Choose the meaning of the following words in which they are used in the

Text.

1 state

a) the physical or mental condition that someone or something is in;

b) a country considered as a political organization;

с) one of the areas with limited law-making powers that together make up a country controlled by a central government.

2 justice

a) the system by which people are judged in courts of law and criminals are punished;

b) the fair treatment of people;

c) a judge in a law court.

3 case

a) a question or problem that will be dealt with by a law court;

b) a special box used as a container4 for holding or protecting something;

c) all the reasons that one side in a legal argument can give against the other side.

4 party

a) a social event when a lot of people meet together to enjoy themselves;

b) a political organization with particular beliefs and aims, which you can vote for in elections;

c) one of the people or a group of people involved in a legal argument.

5. precedent

a) an official action or decision that can be used to give support to later actions or decisions;

b) something of the same type that has happened or existed before;

c) the way that things have always been done.

3. Explain the following phrases in your own words:

Exclusive jurisdiction, binding precedent, overlapping jurisdiction, intermediate courts.

4. To check your understanding the text, complete each sentence below by choosing the correct answer:

3) The highest court in the country is

a) the Supreme Court;

b) the State Supreme Court;

c) the US Supreme Court.

4) The US President appoints

a) all judges in the country;

b) all federal judges;

c) all judges in the supreme courts.

5) The US Supreme Court has

a) appellate jurisdiction;

b) appellate and limited original jurisdiction;

c) appellate and original jurisdiction.

6) The federal Courts of Appeals hear

a) all kinds of appeals;

b) appeals on points of law;

c) appeals on points of fact.

7) The District Courts decide

a) civil and administrative cases;

b) civil and criminal cases;

c) criminal cases and appeals.

8) A state court may hear any case if it is connected to its

a) criminal law;

b) constitution and laws;

c) civil or criminal law.

To complete the diagram of the federal court system in the USA at first use the information given in brackets and then from the text.

The US Federal Court System

… … 9 judges No jury Highest … All …

13 … … … A group of… No … Higher … Review …

Special Courts

… District Courts 1 … + jury … courts Hear … Most cases …

(Court of Custom, court in the USA, 3 judges, start and stop at this level, district court decisions, cases about federal laws and constitutional rights, lower, Supreme Court, judge, decisions are final, jury, courts, 94, Courts of Appeals)

III. VOCABULARY STUDY

1. Substitute the words in italics with the words from the text.

1. Federal system of rules that people in a particular country must obey protects people from injustice.

2. They filed a formal request to a court asking for a decision to be changed against the judgment.

3. All the judges in a country must serve the justice.

4. The official in control of a court who decides how criminals should be punished specifies the number of years to be spent in prison.

5. All people have the right to a fair legal process in a court of where a judge

examines information to decide if somebody is guilty or not.

6. Mr Brown asked for the careful judicial examination of the decision.

 

2. Find in the text synonyms to the following words and make up your own sentences:

Power, to appoint, body, obligatory, mistake, special.

 

The table below shows relationship between the verb, noun and adjective forms in different word families. Complete the table and make up word combinations using the words from the table.

Verb	Noun (thing or concept)	Noun (person)	Adjective(positive and negative)
	Approval	------------
------------	Law		lawless
		interpreter
	Application
Decide			decisive
Appoint			appointive (US)
		dependant
	Judgment
Lead
		-------------	exclusive

Who or what do the pronouns in italics refer to?

1. It is the court of last resort.

2. They serve as long as they obey the law.

3. It has limited original jurisdiction in cases related to foreign diplomats and those in which a state is a party.

4. President appoints them for life with the consent of the Senate.

5. They hear appeals from the district courts.

6. Their decisions may be appealed to the federal courts of appeal.

7. It has federal and state courts.

Each of the groups of words can be linked by one other word – a noun or nouns. What are they? Add any other adjectives if you can.

b) original, limited, exclusive, constitutional;

c) civil, criminal, federal, state;

d) district, county, trial, intermediate, police;

e) judicial, wrong, legal, binding.

6. Translate the following into English:

Суд останньої інстанції; право/повноваження судового перегляду; розглядати позови; банкрутство/неспроможність; слухати апеляції; судовий округ; федеральний районний суд; призначати довічно; застосовувати закони; тлумачити закони; податковий суд; суд із питань міжнародної торгівлі; відхиляти закони штату; підпорядкуватися закону; на основі Конституції; правові спори; прецедент, який має обов’язкову силу.

 

Each of the sentences contains a mistake. The mistakes are all in the prepositions. Find and correct them.

1. The system in federal courts hears cases related to the federal jurisdiction.

2. All federal judges are appointed before life.

3. The courts of law have jurisdiction for legal disputes that appear in the country.

4. A judge is responsible on making decisions at the trial.

5. Each of the sides involved upon legal proceedings is a party to a case.

6. On the doctrine of binding precedent decisions of courts in previous cases are considered as a source of law which will influence or bind courts in later similar cases.

7. The task of conducting trials is placed from different types of courts.

8. Complete the text with the words from the box:

Justice, superior, law, court, appeals, administer, trial, appellate, civil, military, jurisdiction, criminal

Courts are established to 1)… civil law and criminal 2)…. The term 3) … is also applied to international tribunals created to resolve controversies among governments, e.g. the International Court of 4)…, established by the UNO.

Among the general classifications are courts of 5)… and inferior jurisdiction, trial courts, appellate courts, civil and criminal courts and some others. Courts of superior 6)…, often called higher courts or 7)… courts, are generally those to which 8) … are made from decisions of courts of inferior jurisdiction, referred to as lower courts or 9)… courts. Civil and criminal courts deal with breaches of the 10)… law and 11)… law respectively. Courts with special limited jurisdictions – such as 12)… courts – are known by the names of these jurisdictions.

9. Translate the articles of the Constitution of Ukraine:

Стаття 147. Конституційний Суд України є єдиним органом конституційної юрисдикції в Україні.

Конституційний Суд України вирішує питання про відповідність законів та інших правових актів Конституції України і дає офіційне тлумачення Конституції України та законів України.

 

Стаття 148. Конституційний Суд України складається з вісімнадцяті суддів

Конституційного Суду України.

Президент України, Верховна Рада України та з’їзд суддів України призначають по шість суддів Конституційного Суду України.

Суддею Конституційного Суду України може бути громадянин України, який на день призначення досяг сорока років, має вищу юридичну освіту і стаж роботи за фахом не менш як десять років, проживає в Україні протягом останніх двадцяти років та володіє державною мовою.

Суддя Конституційного Суду України призначається на дев’ять років без права бути призначеним на повторний строк.

Голова Конституційного Суду України обирається на спеціальному пленарному засіданні Конституційного Суду зі складу суддів

Конституційного Суду України шляхом таємного голосування лише на один трирічний строк.

 

IV. GRAMMAR FOCUS

Find Present and Past Participles in the text, define their functions and translate them.