Ex. 38. Match the courts of general jurisdiction and the cases they can try. Describe the functions of these courts.

name of the court	cases
1. court of justices of the peace	a. the majority of criminal and civil cases
2. district court	b. civil, administrative, criminal, and other cases by way of supervision and for newly discovered circumstances
3. regional court	c. military cases
4. Supreme court	d. more serious crimes and civil matters + review of the lower court’s judgments
5. military courts	e. small claims at the local level

EX. 39. Fill in the box with the appropriate information from the text “The Russian Court System”

COURT SYSTEM OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Part of the court system	Competence of the court
courts of the general jurisdiction
Commercial Courts
the Russian Federation Constitutional Courts

EX.40. Choose the suitable word and translate the sentences into Russian:

1. The Russian judicial system (consists, includes) of the Constitutional Court, the courts of the general jurisdiction, and the State commercial courts.

2. The Constitutional Court (interprets, adopts) the constitution and (resolves, solves) issues related to the compliance of laws and regulations within the constitution.

3. The courts of general jurisdiction (hear, listen) criminal cases and (resolve, review) civil and administrative disputes.

4. Disputes regarding business activity are (heard, governed) before the State Commercial courts.

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

b) Which statement corresponds to the text?

A. The Law on the Status of Judges sets forth the basic requirements for the position of a judge.

B. A judge is a Russian citizen of 35 years old who has experience of working in legal profession.

C. Any citizen of our country with the experience of 5 years can be a judge.

D. 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

c) 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 interpret s 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).