Court system of the Russian Federation

EX.41 a) Scan the text and fill in the table below. 

JUDGES

The Constitution provides* that a Russian citizen over the age of 25, who has had a higher legal education and experience in the legal profession for a minimum of 5 years may become a judge (Art.119). The Law on the Status of Judges provides for more details.

Judge of the Constitutional Court – 40 years of age and experience of working in legal profession for no less than 15 years;

Judges of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation – 35 years of age and experience of working in legal profession for no less than 10 years;

Judges of the courts of the constituent entities and the Federal Territorial Commercial Courts – 30 years of age and experience of working in legal profession for no less than 7 years;

Judges of the commercial courts of the constituent entities – 25 years of age and experience of working in legal profession for no less than 5 years.

*to provide предусматривать

 

Court	age	experience

2. Which statement corresponds to the text?

1. The Law on the Status of Judges sets forth the basic requirements for the position of a judge.
2. A judge is a Russian citizen of 35 years old who has experience of working in legal profession.
3. Any citizen of our country with the experience of 5 years  can be a judge.
4. The Constitution of the RF sets forth the basic requirements for the position of a judge

c) Answer the questions:

1) Would you like to be a judge?   2)  Which court would you like to work at? 

3) What should you do to be a judge of that court?

EX.42. a) Scan the text and entitle it..

 

Commercial courts are independent. The new commercial courts started operation in April 1992.

The basic level of commercial courts comprises “commercial courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation”, that is  commercial courts of the republics, regions, cities with federal status, and autonomous regions. There are 81 such courts. These courts handle cases as the first instance court.

Appeals against the decisions of the first instance court are handled* by appellate courts**. Now there are 20 appellate courts which review the legality and groundfulness of the decisions of the first instance court.

The third level courts are the Federal Territorial Commercial Courts. There are 10 such courts which handle cases as an instance of cassation*** in relation to the courts within the jurisdiction.

The highest level of commercial court is the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation. The Supreme Commercial Court comprises the Plenum, the Presidium, the Department of Civil Cases, and the Department of Administrative Cases.

The most important functions of the Plenum is to issue decisions addressed to lower courts. The Presidium reviews cases by way of supervision.

 

*to handle appeals рассматривать апелляции

**appellate court  апелляционный суд

***an instance of cassation  кассационная инстанция

 

3. Look at the diagram and describe the commercial courts. Use the words:

to consist of; to handle cases (appeals); court  of first instance; appellate courts; to review; an instance of cassation; lower courts; by way of supervision

Commercial courts

the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation 

(the Plenum, the Presidium, the Department of Civil Cases, and the Department of Administrative Cases)

Federal Territorial Commercial Courts  (10 )

appellate commercial courts (20)

 

commercial courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation( 81)

 

EX. 43 Read the text, pay special attention to the underlined terms. Entitle the text.  Make a diagram to describe this part of the RF court system.

The structure of the courts of general jurisdiction is provided by the Law on Court Organisation of 1996.

The basic level of the system of the courts of general jurisdiction  is the district court. District courts handle cases as first instance courts. There are 2,440 district courts. In some areas, such as in Moscow, inter-district courts were formed. In relation to the justices of the peace, district courts are the courts of a higher instance.

The second level of courts are supreme courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as well as regional courts, courts of cities with federal status, and courts of autonomous regions. Currently, there are 87 such courts. These courts handle cases as second instance courts for the judgments of district courts. In some cases, such as cases involving state secrets, these courts handle cases as a first instance court. They are also empowered to review cases in a supervisory procedure and cases reopened on newly found circumstances.

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is the highest court within the system of courts of general jurisdiction.

 

Ex. 44 Read the texts below and make their  summaries. Use these phrases for your summary.

 

Useful phrases

I’ll give a review of the text. The title of the article is … The text is devoted to … At the beginning of the text … The text  says (describes, underlines, stresses) that … The text goes on to say … It is interesting to note … At the end of the article … In conclusion the author writes …

 

 

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is the highest court within the system of courts of general jurisdiction, that is in relation to the supreme courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation as well as regional courts, courts of cities with federal status, courts of autonomous provinces and regions, and military tribunals.

It also acts as a first instance court in some limited cases, and as a second instance court in cases where supreme courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation as well as regional courts, courts of cities with federal status, courts of autonomous regions handled the case as the first instance court. The Supreme Court also reviews cases in a supervisory procedure and cases reopened on newly found circumstances.

The Supreme Court has a Plenum, Presidium, Civil and Criminal Departments and Court Administration Department.

The Plenum is composed of all judges of the Supreme Court plus the Procurator General and other officials. The issuing of “explanatory guidance” is its most important function. The Presidium comprises the President, deputies, heads of the departments. It reviews cases by way of supervision.

 

The Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court is the only body that officially interprets the Constitution and can declare that a certain legal act does not comply with the Constitution and, therefore, is invalid.

The Constitutional court consists of 19 judges. There are two chambers with 9 and 10 judges in each respectively. The chambers consider the majority of cases; the most important issues are resolved on the Plenum Session of the Constitutional Court.

The Court is competent to examine laws and legal acts at federal as well as at the regional level as regards to their compliance with the constitution.

The proceeding before the constitutional court can be initiated by the president, parliament or a group of members of parliament comprising a fifth of all members of the State Duma or the Council of the Federation, the Government, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Commercial Court, legislative and executive bodies of the Subjects of the Federation. A court may suspend proceedings and ask the Constitutional Court to examine whether a particular legal Act complies with the constitution.

The Constitutional Court can also resolve disputes about competence between state bodies if the dispute cannot be resolved by other means.

 

Speaking tasks

Ex.45   Describe the court system of Russia according to the plan:

1. Sources of law in the Russian Federation.

2. Bodies of law.

3. The main groups of courts in the RF.

4. The Courts of General Jurisdiction (structure and competence).

5.  The Commercial Courts (structure and competence).

6.  The Russian Federation Constitutional Courts (structure and competence).

 

Ex.46. Compare the British court system and the Russian court system.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST Key words commonly used to express comparison include: like                    similar                         as same                  in the same way          too both                   most important          have in common the same as        similarly                    as well as   Key words commonly used to express contrast include: although                 yet                           whereas however                 but                            while differ                    instead                     unless unlike                    on the contrary         contrary to even                      though                      on the other hand   Note: When you compare one subject to another, you show how the two are alike, or similar. If you speak about similarities, you should start , for example, with “Both …and…”   When you contrast two subjects, you show how they are different. If you speak about differences, you should start , for example,with “While…., ….”

 

Glossary

 

1. binding adj. –m,(of an agreement or promise) involving an obligation that cannot be broken

e.g. Business agreements are intended to be legally binding.

 

2. code n. — a systematic collection of laws or regulations

e.g. A criminal code (or penal code) is a document which compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law.

 

3. court of appeals n.— court to which appeals are taken in a federal circuit or a state

e.g. The Court of Appeal has clarified its position.

 

4. court of first instance n.— a court in which legal proceedings are begun or first heard

e.g. Unusual for Russian patent disputes, the court of first instance did not follow the conclusions of the forensic examination.

 

5. decree n.— an official order that has the force of law

e.g. According to the Constitution of Russia the President of Russia may issue decrees.

 

6. general jurisdiction adj.+n. – the court's authority to hear all kinds of cases, which arise within its geographic area. 

e.g. A court of general jurisdiction is one that can hear different types of cases like a tort case, a contracts law case, or any number of other related cases.

 

7. judicial adj. – relating to the legal system and to judgements made in a court of law

e.g. There are many officers of the court, including jurors, but the Prosecutor General remains the most powerful component of the Russian judicial system.

 

8. invalid adj.— not legally recognized and therefore void because contravening a regulation or law

e.g. The vote was declared invalid due to a technicality.

 

9. judiciary n. – the judicial branch of government, the court system, or judges collectively

e.g. The judiciary must think very hard before jailing non-violent offenders.

 

10. private  law adj.+n. – a branch of the law that deals with the relations between individuals or institutions, rather than relations between these and the state

e.g. Major subdivisions of private law include torts and contracts or the law of obligations. 

11. proceedings n.— legal action taken against someone

Criminal proceedings were brought against him

 

12. public law adj.+n. –  the law of relationships between individuals and the government

e.g. Constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law are some of the major subdivisions of public law.

 

13. regulations n.— rules or directives made and maintained by an authority

e.g. The European Community has proposed new regulations to control the hours worked by its employees.

 

14.  rule of law n. – 1). a situation in which the people in a society obey its laws and enable it to function properly

e.g. I am confident that we can restore peace, stability and respect for the rule of law.

2). a legal principle

e.g. The European Court has thus established an important legal principle.

 

15. supervision n. – the observing and directing of the execution of (a task or activity)

e.g. First-time license holders have to work under supervision.

 

16.  supreme court n. – the highest court in the country

e.g. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States.

 

17.  to adjudicate v. - to make a formal judgement on a disputed matter

e.g. The case was adjudicated in the High Court.

 

18. to comply with v. — to act in accordance with what is required

e.g. We are unable to comply with your request.

 

19. to contradict v. — to be in conflict with

e.g. The result seems to contradict a major U.S. study reported last November.

 

20. to hear  (a case) v. –  to listen to a case officially in order to make a decision about it

e.g. He had to wait months before his case was heard.

 

21. to interpret v. – to explain the meaning of (information or actions)

e.g. The evidence is difficult to interpret.

 

22. to review  cases v. – to submit (a case, etc.) for reconsideration by a higher court or authority

e.g. The Attorney General asked the court to review the sentence.

 

23.  to veto v. – to exercise a constitutional right to reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body

e.g. The president vetoed the bill.

 

24. trial court n. — a court of law where cases are tried in the first place, as opposed to an appeal court

e.g. A trial court or court of first instance is a court in which trials take place.