Text d structure of national government in ukraine

The Constitution of Ukraine names three branches of government – the legislative, which consists of the Verkhovna Rada, the executive, headed by the President with the Cabinet of Ministers as the highest body and the judicial, which is led by the Supreme Court*.

The Ukrainian Parliament has one house (chamber) – the Supreme Council (the Verkhovna Rada). It is represented by 450 people’s deputies, elected for four year terms on the basis of universal, equal, direct suffrage* by secret ballot*. The Verkhovna Rada’s main function is making laws. Law drafting work is performed by its committees. The Verkhovna Rada adopts the State Budget for the period from January,1 till December,31 and controls the execution of it.

The Cabinet of Ministers – is the highest body of the executive power. It is headed by the Prime Minister who is appointed by the president and approved by the majority of the Verkhovna Rada. The Cabinet of Ministers carries out the fulfillment of the Constitution, as well as acts of the President. It develops and fulfills national programs on the economic, technological and cultural development of Ukraine.

The President is elected directly by voters for a term of five years with no more than two full terms. The President of Ukraine secures state independence, human rights and freedoms. The executive power in regions and districts is exercised by local state administrations. Their heads are appointed* by the President and are responsible to him.

Justice* in Ukraine is exercised entirely by the courts. It is administered by the Constitutional court and by the courts of general jurisdiction. The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest body of general jurisdiction.

The Autonomous Republic of Crimea has its own parliament and government.

Supreme Court – Верховний Суд

suffrage – виборче право, голосування

ballot – виборчий бюлетень

to appoint – призначати

justice – правосуддя, юстиція, справедливий

Exercise 17 Read the sentences below and mark them T (True) or F (False). Correct the false ones. Translate them.

1 The Ukrainian government consists of three branches.

2 The Constitution of Ukraine was adopted on August,24, 1991.

3 The Cabinet of Ministers is a law-making body.

4 There are forty-five people’s deputies in the Verkhovna Rada.

5 The executive power is headed by the Supreme Court.

6 The Prime Minister secures state independence, human rights and freedom.

7 The heads of the local state administrations are elected by the people.

Exercise 18 Complete the sentences according to text D.

1 The executive branch of power is headed by _________________.

2 The legislative power belongs to __________________________.

3 The judicial power is headed by ___________________________.

4 The Supreme Council is the nation’s _______________________.

5 Ukraine is divided into twenty-four ________________________.

Exercise 19 Use the words from the box to complete the sentences.

legislative executive the Cabinet judicial State Budget

1 The highest body of the ________________ branch is the Cabinet of Ministers.

2 The national parliament is a _________________ branch of power.

3 The Supreme Court heads ______________ power.

4 The President appoints _________________.

5 The Supreme Council discusses and adopts the________________.

Final creative task: make a project on the topic “National Government of Ukraine”. Find more facts about the political life in Ukraine in the newspapers KYIV POST and write about them.

Final speaking task: speak on the Structure of Ukrainian Government.

Exercise 20 Point out the suffixes in the following words and translate them into Ukrainian. Identify their parts of speech. For references see the grammar supplement.

Lawyer, remarkable, professional, directly, traditional, social, daily, position, manipulate, influence, impression, modify, bargainer, criminal, adjudication, information, settlement, approximately, litigation, considerable, unbiased, non-interference.

Exercise 21 Fill in the blanks with the derivatives of the words in italics. Analyse their parts of speech. Translate the sentences. For references see the grammar supplement.

1 A person who inhabits a city is its ______________.

2 Is he a popular politician? – Yes, his ______________ is great.

3 He is the owner of that property. His ______________ can’t be questioned.

4 This monument is a great symbol. It _____________ friendship of people all over the world.

5 You should divide these facts into classes, that is _________ them.

Final writing task: now that you have almost completed this part of unit 1 look through it once again to find “noun + noun” combinations. Write them down with the translation.

Note that shareholder is a noun + noun combination. It is written as one word. Share capital is also a noun + noun combination, but it is written as two words. There are no fixed rules for writing noun + noun combinations. Typically they start as separate words, but some of them become so closely associated that they merge into one word. Saxon genitive, for example employees’ handbook; prepositional phrase, for example confirmation of your appointment; noun + noun, for example job description.

Suggested activity in conclusion: decide what you think these quotations and proverbs mean. Think of examples to illustrate some of them:

1. A democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property and vulgar* employments. (Aristotle).

2. In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of. (Confucius).

3. Every nation has the government it deserves. (Letter from Russia, 1811, Joseph Marie, Conte de Maistre).

4. Let the people think they govern and they will be governed. (William Penn).

5. In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to the other. (Voltaire).

6. Your right to swing your arm ends just where the other person’s nose begins.

7. One person’s right is another person’s duty.

vulgar – загальнонародний, поширений

UNIT 1