Английский язык для юристов. Учебное пособие [для студентов специальности 40.02.04 «Юриспруденция»]

UNIT 5

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

1.Подумайте и ответьте на вопросы.

1.What is a constitution?

2.What basic principles are contained in a constitution?

3.Why is a constitution the supreme law of any country?

1.Прочитайте и переведите текст.

TEXT

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The Constitution of the Russian Federation is Russia’s supreme law, passed through a national vote. It contains the basic principles of the Russian constitutional system.

The Constitution:

•defines the federative structure of the Russian Federation;

•establishes the principles of sovereignty and independence of the Russian Federation;

•defines the principle of separation of powers between legislative, executive and judicial branches;

•establishes equality of ideologies and religions;

•defines the Russian Federation as a secular state.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation defines the rights and freedoms of a human and a citizen, sets their priority when deciding any issues, and proclaims the principle of equality before law and court. As for the federative structure, the Constitution contains the list of component units of the Russian Federation, covers the issues that are within the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and those that are within the joint jurisdiction of federal and local authorities.

Separate articles are devoted to the bodies of federal power: the President of the Russian Federation, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and the Government of the Russian Federation and also the judicial power of the Russian Federation. In these articles, the order and the terms of appointed and elected officials and the limits of their competence are defined according to the principle of separation of powers.

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Under the Constitution adopted on December 12, 1993 at the all-Russia referendum, full authority in the Russian Federation belongs to the President and the bodies of the legislative (twochamber parliament — Federal Assembly), executive (Government of the Russian Federation) and the judicial authorities, which work independently.

The President of the Russian Federation is the Head of the State; the duties of the President are listed, including his status of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The Constitution also contains the text of the oath taken by the President of the Russian Federation upon taking office.

The Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (the Federation Council and the State Duma) represents the legislature. The order of electing representatives for these chambers, their competence, terms of office are provided by the Constitution.

The Government of the Russian Federation is the executive branch. The Constitution determines the extent of its jurisdiction and also defines the order and the terms of office of government officials.

Judicial power is implemented by means of constitutional, civil, administrative, and criminal legal proceedings. The Constitution establishes the principles of independence, irremovability and immunity of judges, thus providing for objectiveness and impartiality of the court.

The system of courts of the Russian Federation consists of:

•the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation;

•the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation;

•the Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation.

Separate articles are devoted to the Russian Federation Procurator’s Office with functions of supervision and control, and the procedure for adoption of Constitutional amendments. The Constitution regulates the issues of local self-government, including its authority and sphere of activity.

Transitional and Final provisions regulating the promulgation of the Constitution and its enforcement are contained in Part 2 of the Constitution.

3. Переведите на русский язык следующие слова и словосочетания из текста.

1)to establish the principles of sovereignty and independence

2)to cover issues

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3)to be devoted to the bodies of federal power

4)to define the federative structure

5)legislative authority

6)executive authority

7)judicial authority

8)to list duties

9)the Armed Forces

10)to represent the legislature

11)to determine the extent of the jurisdiction

12)immunity of judges

13)impartiality of the court

14)supervision and control

15)promulgation of the Constitution

4. Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты следующим русским словам и словосочетаниям.

1)установить принцип суверенитета

2)принцип разделения властей

3)установить равенство религиозных конфессий

4)светское государство

5)в ведении федеральных и местных властей

6)провозглашать принцип равенства перед законом

7)Федеральное Собрание

8)рамки полномочий

9)судебная власть

10)глава государства

11)порядок избрания представителей

12)установить принцип несменяемости судей

13)Прокуратура Российской Федерации

14)беспристрастность суда

15)процедура принятия поправок к Конституции

5. Ответьте на вопросы по тексту.

1. What does the Constitution of the Russian Federation define and establish?

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2.What provisions does the Constitution contain regarding the federative structure?

3.What are the bodies of federal power?

4.Who does the full authority in the Russian Federation belong to under the current Constitution?

5.What provisions concerning the legislature are provided by the Constitution?

6.What is the executive branch of power in the Russian Federation?

7.How is judicial power implemented in the Russian Federation?

8.What principles of judicial power does the Constitution establish?

9.What does the system of courts consist of?

10.Does the Constitution regulate the activities of local selfgovernment?

6.Подберите синонимы из правой колонки к словам в левой колонке.

7. Подберите антонимы из правой колонки к словам в левой колонке.

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8. Закончите предложения согласно содержанию текста.

1.Constitution establishes …

a)the principles of independence and partial sovereignty of the RF.

b)equalities of ideologies but not religions.

c)the principle of separation of powers.

2.As for the federative structure, the Constitution …

a)covers the questions that are exclusively in the jurisdiction of the RF leaving out the competence of federal and local authorities.

b)contains the list of component units of the RF.

c)covers only those questions that are in the joint jurisdiction of federal and local authorities.

3.The bodies of federal power are…

a)the FederalAssembly of the RF and the judiciary of the RF.

b)the President of the RF and the Government of the RF.

c)all the bodies mentioned above in a) and b).

4.The Federal Assembly of the RF represents …

a)the legislature.

b)the judiciary.

c)the executive branch.

5.The Constitution determines …

a)the extent of the jurisdiction of the executive branch.

b)the order and the terms of office of the governmental officials.

c)both.

6.Judicial power is implemented by means of …

a)civil and criminal legal proceedings.

b)constitutional and administrative legal proceedings.

c)all the proceedings mentioned in a) and b).

9. Соотнесите слова c их определениями

1)unofficial

2)the legislative power

3)immunity

4)supervision

5)the executive power

6)competence

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7)enforcement

8)the judicial power

9)legal proceeding(s)

10)impartiality

a)freedom from favouritism, disinterestedness, fairness

b)the quality or condition of being legally qualified to perform an act

c)a giving force to, authority, or effect to

d)one who holds an office or position, especially one who acts in a subordinate capacity for an institution such as a corporation or governmental agency

e)the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state

f)the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state affairs

g)all actions that are authorized or sanctioned by law and instituted in a court or a tribunal for the acquisition of rights or the enforcement of remedies

h)authority belonging to an officially elected body of people vested with the responsibility to make laws

i)authoritative control over the affairs of others

j)exemption from normal legal duties, penalties, or liabilities,granted to a special group of people

10. Переведите предложения, используя слова и

словосочетания из текста.

1.Конституция Российской федерации – основной закон страны.

2.Конституция устанавливает основы социального,

экономического и политического устройства России.

3.Конституция провозглашает идею приоритета прав и свобод человека.

4.Носителем суверенитета и единственным источником власти в РФ является ее многонациональный народ.

5.Все граждане России равны перед законом и судом.

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6.Статья 10 Конституции Российской Федерации предусматривает принцип разделения государственной власти на законодательную, исполнительную и судебную.

7.Судебная власть осуществляется посредством конституционного, гражданского, административного и уголовного судопроизводства.

8.Согласно Конституции, судьи обладают независимостью, несменяемостью и неприкосновенностью.

9.В компетенцию Прокуратуры входит надзор за исполнением законов всеми учреждениями, должностными лицами и гражданами.

10.При вступлении в должность Президент Российской Федерации приносит присягу.

11.Прочитайте текст о различных типах конституций и переведите его.

TYPES OF CONSTITUTIONS

A Constitution is a system which establishes the fundamental rules and principles which a state will use to govern and regulate.

There are several types of constitutions: written/unwritten, rigid/flexible, federal/unitary.

The term written constitution is used to describe a constitution that is entirely written, that is codified in one single document. Written constitutions normally consist of a ceremonial preamble, which sets forth the goals of the state and the motivation for the constitution, and several articles containing the substantive provisions.

The term unwritten constitution is used to describe a constitution in which no single, formal document delineates the powers of a government. Instead, an unwritten constitution comprises the body of a country's laws, enacted over time, with an emphasis on political precedent and parliamentary procedure, to create a framework in which a limited government operates. Unwritten constitutions can contain written sources: e.g. constitutional statutes enacted by the Parliament; and also unwritten sources: constitutional conventions, customs and traditions.

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Many historians use the term “rigid” to describe the Constitution because in such constitution there are provisions in writing that cannot be legally changed with the same ease and in the same manner as ordinary laws. On the other hand, the Constitution is called “flexible” because it is an unwritten document that can be changed by an act of Parliament or through a process of amendment.

The federal constitution establishes the division of authority between the Federal Government and the component units of the government. In a federal constitution, sovereignty is invested in the central government. It allows a limited amount of government among units.

The unitary constitution relates to the parliament. It follows parliamentary system of power. The unitary constitution establishes a unitary system of government where a central government does exist. Although units are associated with that government, sovereignty is controlled by the central government.

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UNIT 6

NATIONAL LEGAL SYSTEMS

1. Ответьте на вопросы.

1.What does the term “legal system” mean?

2.What legal systems can you name?

3.What legal system does the RF belong to?

4.What systems are there in the UK and the USA?

2. Прочитайте определения существительного “system” и

выберите то, которое соответствует понятию «правовая система».

a.System is a group of parts, facts, ideas, etc., that together form a

whole.

b.System is a number of things arranged to work well together.

c.System is a number of things dependent on each other and working as the unique complex.

TEXT

LEGAL SYSTEMS OF THE WORLD

Vocabulary

1.structure of law — структура права

2.Russian scholars — российские ученые

3.implementation — применение

4.consistency of all norms of law — последовательность всех правовых норм

5.division into — деление на части

6.additional type — дополнительный вид (тип)

7.supranational legal law — наднациональная правовая система

3. Просмотрите текст и определите, в каком абзаце

a)рассказывается о классификациях правовых систем в прошлом;

b)дается понятие «правовой семьи»;

c)перечисляются признаки правовой системы;

d)дается представление о международном праве.

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1)What is a system of law? According to Russian scholars it is the internal structure of law defined by social relations. It is expressed by unity and coordination of all acting legal norms and their implementation in branches and institutions of law.

The characteristics of the legal system are:

• reflection of the existing system of social relations;

• unity and consistency of all norms of law;

• division into relatively independent parts – branches, sub-branches and institutions of law;

• close connections between different elements of a law system;

• stability and dynamism.

2)When rules and laws become systematized inside one country they make national legal systems and these systems can be classified into families according to their main features.

There are about 200 legal systems in the world. Throughout the history of mankind there were various attempts to classify them. In the past, legal systems have often been grouped by geography, history, culture, race, language, religion, or official ideology. Nowadays, scholars define the following legal blocks:

• national legal systems;

• legal families;

• groups of legal families.

3)Although each modern system has its own individuality, it is possible to group many of them into legal “families”. The existing legal systems of nearly all countries are generally modeled upon elements of several main types:

• civil law (Roman-Germanic legal family);

• common law (Anglo-Saxon legal system);

• religious law;

• customary law;

• mixed or pluralistic law.

4)The additional type of the legal system – international law – can be referred to as the law which governs the conduct of independent nations in their relationships. Its part, the law system of the European Community, has become the first example of the newly created supranational legal system.

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