3. Branches of Russian law.

There are different branches in the system of Russian law.

Civil law is the major branch in the system of Russian law which deals with property and non-property relations. Equality of the parties is the basic principle of this law. Being very large and complex, this branch of law has numerous subdivisions such as succession law, copyright law, patent law, housing law, invention law, etc.

Administrative law governs the activity of different administrative agencies, such as state executive bodies or public organisations and the work of public officers. The basic principles of this law are subordination, authority and hierarchy.

Financial law deals with financial relations such as forming of the state budget, money circulation, different banking activities, loans and taxes.

Criminal law deals with crime commission and imposition of punishment. Criminal procedural law regulates the work of courts, the Prosecutor’s Office, organs of preliminary investigation and informal inquest.

Civil procedural law involves a set of procedural norms which regulate public relations arising between court and participants of civil litigation.

4. The system of law in the uk.

The study of law distinguishes between public law and private law, but in legal practice in the UK the distinction between civil law and criminal law is more important to practising lawyers.

Criminal law deals with certain forms of conduct for which the state reserves punishment. Civil law concerns relationships between private persons, their rights and duties.

In a criminal proceeding a prosecutor prosecutes a defendant. If the verdict is “guilty”, the defendant is convicted. He will have a criminal record for the crime and will be punished. In civil cases a claimant sues a defendant. If the defendant is found liable, the judge may order the defendant to pay damages.

In criminal cases the burden of proof falls on the prosecution. In other words it’s the duty of the prosecution to prove guilt, the defendant doesn’t have to prove his innocence. The standard of proof is higher in a criminal action than in a civil one because the penalties are stricter. In a civil action the burden of proof is on the claimant.

One and the same offence may sometimes result in both kinds of prosecution, civil and criminal.

5. What is crime? Types of crimes.

Crime is a breach of rules or laws. The word “crime” is generally associated with wrongdoing but not every type of wrongdoing is a crime.

There are some acts which are considered to be crimes in one country but not in another. But some types of crimes are unlawful in all countries. Nowadays, new crimes have appeared. They are sex discrimination, child pornography, cybercrimes and others.

Sometimes state has to impose more strict systems of social control, because informal sanctions are insufficient to establish social order.