【英语趣味课堂】委员会-The Commission

Todd: Most countries' lawyers have to pass a certain exam. To be a lawyer in this court system do you have to pass some special exam?

Katia: Actually, well first you have to be a lawyer from a particular country. Then after that you study human rights in an international context¹. For international law you do not have an exam as long as you are already a lawyer in your own country and have passed your national tests. After that you can become an international lawyer.

 

Todd: So when cases are brought to this international court, is it a jury², is it just one judge, is it a group of judges?

 

Katia: It's a group of judges. There are, I believe, seven judges from different countries of America.

 

Todd: OK and you never have two judges from the same country?

 

Katia: No, it's very rare, very rare. It's mostly different countries.

 

Todd: And what was the Commission³? You said there was a Commission.

 

Katia: Yes. The Commission is the first entity⁴ that you bring a case to. You do not go to the Court right away. First the Commission sees the case and after they review it, if they believe that there is a mistake done by the state then they can take it into the Court, but first you have to come from the Commission.

 

Todd: So if somebody has a problem they go to the Commission, the Commission then will verify if it should go to the courts and then it goes to the courts?

 

Katia: Well the Commission will give a sentence or will say what the country should do or not if it's not involved. After that, after giving the decision, if the state ignores it the person that brought the case can continue into the Court but not necessarily all the time it goes into the Court. So there is actually one decision before going into the Court.

 

Todd: Fantastic. And then usually when something goes, somebody brings a court case, how long is the process usually from start to finish.

 

Katia: Long time. Many years. Unfortunately many years. In the Commission right now it takes if you bring a case right now there are so many cases that it can take up to five years before the Commission can look at your case. So this is many years.

 

Todd: Yes that is a long time.

 

Katia: Yes.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

human rights

 

You study human rights in an international context.

 

Human rights are basic rights that many countries think people should have; such as a fair justice system, freedom of speech, the right to vote, etc. Notice the following:

 

Various countries interpret⁵ human rights differently.

They are regularly cited⁶ for human rights abuses.

jury

 

So when cases are brought to this international court, is it a jury, is it just one judge?

 

A jury is a group of citizens from the general population who decide the outcome⁷ of a court case. Notice the following:

 

I once served on a jury. It was interesting.

Do you use juries⁸ in your country?

judge

 

is it a group of judges?

 

A judge is the person who is in charge of a trail in court. Notice the following:

 

The judge was quiet for most of the time.

He's been a judge for twenty years.

commission

 

The Commission is the first entity that you bring a case to.

 

A commission is a formal group whose job is to find out information about a legal problem. Notice the following:

 

The city formed a commission to investigate corruption⁹.

There were six people on the commission

court

 

You do not go to the Court right away.

 

Court is the building or place where legal cases are heard. The people present include the judge, jury, lawyers, etc. Notice the following:

 

We go to court on 19th of August.

Excuse me, please. I'm due in court shortly.

1 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。

2 jury   

n.陪审团，评委会；adj.临时用的；vt.挑选

参考例句：

• These twelve men are believed to compose the jury.据信，陪审团是由这12人组成的。
• The members of the jury were discharged from their duties.陪审员们被解除了职务。

3 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

4 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

5 interpret   

vt.解释，说明，理解；vi.作口译

参考例句：

• We have to interpret his words in a modern light.我们不得不用现代观点来解释他的话。
• Please interpret the comments of our foreign guest.请把外宾的话翻译一下。

6 cited   

引用( cite的过去式和过去分词 )； 传唤； 记起； [军事]传（或通）令嘉奖

参考例句：

• He cited his heavy workload as the reason for his breakdown. 他说繁重的工作负荷是导致他累垮的原因。
• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat. 医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。

7 outcome   

n.结果，出口，演变

参考例句：

• The outcome of the experiment is in the lap of the gods.实验结果尚难预料。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

8 juries   

n.陪审团( jury的名词复数 )；评判委员会

参考例句：

• Grand juries have enormous powers to investigate wrong-doing by public officials as well as private citizens. 大陪审团拥有极大权力调查政府官员及平民的过失。
• Juries for a state court are drawn from the county in which the court is located. 州法院的陪审员一般从该法院所在的县选取，而联邦法院的陪审员则从整个地区选取，包括许多县。

9 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。