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AMatch the sentence beginnings (1-7) to the correct endings (a-g).

1.The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus stipulates …..

2.The House of Representatives is elected …………………

3.The House of Representatives appoints and ……………...

4.Any draft law is first considered by ………………………

5.The members of the Council of the Republic are elected ….

6.The Council of the Republic has the power ………………

7.The Council of the Republic has the right ………………..

a)……………………………. the House of Representatives.

b)………………… to consider decrees of the President on introducing the state of emergency.

c)………………………………. at the meetings of deputies.

d)………………………………. the composition and the procedure of the two chambers of Parliament.

e)…………………. accepts the resignation of the President.

f)…………………………… to select government officials.

g)…………………………………………... by secret ballot.

BChoose the most suitable word in each sentence.

1.Deputies of the House of Representatives are appointed / chosen / elected by secret ballot.

2.The House of Representatives is able / entitled / appointed to hear the reports of the Prime Minister on the Government’s programme of activity.

3.Any draft law is first considered / composed / selected by the House of Representatives.

4.The House of Representatives makes / chooses / appoints elections of the President.

5.The Council of the Republic has the ability / power / title to conduct an impeachment trial of the President.

6.The Council of the Republic adopts / embodies / cancels the decisions of local Councils of Deputies not conforming to the legislation.

7.The sessions of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic are introduced / held / met separately.

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VOCABULARY PRACTICE

A Read the words and guess their meaning. Mind the stress.

BFind in the text the verbs that complete the expressions below. Translate these word combinations into Russian.

……… 110 deputies; ….….. the age of 21; ……… a law with the majority of votes; …….. an impeachment trial; ……… the bills; ……… the decisions; ……… the right; ………. the term of office.

CFind in the text the sentences containing the word combinations from Exercise B, read and translate these sentences.

DLearn the active vocabulary.

E Make a summary of the text.

READING PRACTICE

AScan Text 9.3 and answer the questions:

a)Who does the judicial branch in Belarus belong to?

b)What determines the court structure?

c)What body exercises the supervision over correspondence of laws in the State to the Constitution?

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BRead the text and complete the information below.

1.Justice in the Republic of Belarus is exercised on the basis of ........................................................................... .

2.Interference into the activity of judges is .......................

3.Judges are not allowed to perform .................................. .

4.If a person doesn’t agree with the court judgments, he has the right to ................................................................ .

5.The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus is formed of ........................................................................ .

6.The Chairman of the Constitutional Court is appointed by ................................................................................. .

7.The members of the Constitutional Court may hold office till ......................................................................... .

9.3 The Judicial Branch

The judicial power in the Republic of Belarus belongs to courts.

The court structure in Belarus is determined by the law. The formation of emergency courts is prohibited in the Republic. In administering justice judges are independent and obey the law only. The independence of the judiciary is a fundamental principle of constitutional law.

Justice in the Republic is exercised by courts on the basis of the Constitution and other standard laws adopted in conformity with it. Cases are tried in court collegially, and in some cases, determined by law, by judges individually.

The Constitution establishes the right of courts to raise the issue of considering certain standard laws as unconstitutional if the court comes to the conclusion on non-conformity of the law to the Constitution.

Interference into the activity of judges engaged in judicature is prohibited and punishable by the law. Judges may not be engaged in entrepreneurial activity or perform any other paid jobs, except teaching and research.

The court judgments are obligatory for all citizens and officials. If a person doesn’t agree with the sentence, he has the right to appeal to a higher court.

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The supervision over correspondence of laws in the State to the Constitution is exercised by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus. The Constitutional Court is formed of 12 judges from among highly qualified specialists in the field of law, who as a rule have a scientific degree. Six judges of the Constitutional Court are appointed by the President with the consent of the Council of the Republic and six judges are elected by the Council of the Republic. The Chairman of the Constitutional Court is appointed by the President with the consent of the Council of the Republic. The term of office of the members of the Constitutional Court is 11 years and they may hold office till the age of 70. The Constitutional Court gives evaluation on correspondence of standard laws to the Constitution upon the request of the President, the House of Representatives, the Council of the Republic, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Economic Court and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.

The Procurator’s Office of the Republic of Belarus is a unified centralized system of bodies headed by Procurator-General. It exercises supervision over the exact and uniform execution of the laws, decrees, resolutions and other standard enactments by ministries and other bodies subordinated to the Council of Ministers, by local representative and executive bodies, enterprises, organizations and institutions, public associations, officials and citizens. The competence, organization and procedure of activity of the Procurator’s Office bodies are determined by the legislation.

COMPREHENSION

AMark the statements True or False according to the information in the text. Justify your answers by reference to the text.

1.Justice in the Republic of Belarus is exercised on the basis of the Constitution.

2.In their work judges are independent and obey the law only.

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3.Interference into the activity of judges is not prohibited by the law.

4.The Chairman of the Constitutional Court is elected by the Council of the Republic.

5.The term of office of the members of the Constitutional Court is 11 years.

BChoose the best suitable word.

1.The court structure in Belarus is divided / determined / decided by the law.

2.The independence of the judiciary is a granted / adopted / fundamental principle of constitutional law.

3.Interference into the activity of judges is prohibited / specified / granted by the law.

4.The court judgments are fundamental / unitary / obligatory for all citizens and officials.

5.Each person has the right to address / appeal / speak to a higher court.

VOCABULARY PRACTICE

A Read the words and guess their meaning. Mind the stress.

BMatch these verbs and nouns as they occur together in the text.

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CComplete these sentences with the word combinations from Exercise B.

1.The judicial power in Belarus ........................................... .

2.In administering justice judges ......................................... .

3.Justice is exercised by courts on the basis of laws which

5.If a person doesn’t agree with a court judgment, he has the right ................................................................................... .

to be subordinated to Совет Министров / Президент / Конституционный Суд

E Choose someone to answer your questions.

UNIT 10

ELECTORAL SYSTEM

READING PRACTICE

AScan Text 10 .1 and answer the questions:

a)What is the role of electoral system?

b)What is the main goal of voting in Great Britain?

c)What is the main goal of voting in European countries?

BRead the text. Mark the statements True or False according to the information in the text. Justify your answer by reference to the text.

1. The type of electoral system is of no importance in our democracy.

2. The choice of electoral system is closely connected with the purpose of elections.

3. The choice of system also depends on what it is supposed to achieve.

4. All electoral systems can be divided into four categories. 5. Each country has only one type of elections.

10.1Types of Electoral Systems

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The choice of the electoral system is a question of great importance in our democracy. To a significant degree electoral systems define how the body politic operates. As Farell points out: ‘they are the cogs which keep the wheels of democracy properly functioning’. The choice of system raises issues about the nature of representative government and the purpose of elections.

In making that selection, much depends on what the electoral system is supposed to achieve. Obviously, it is desirable that it produces an outcome which is acceptable to as many people as possible. Fundamental to the issue is the question ‘What is the point of voting?’ Is it primarily choose a government, or is it to choose membership of the legislature? Is the emphasis placed upon electing a strong administration which has broad support in the community, or is it to elect an assembly which accurately reflects prevailing opinion? On the continent the emphasis is upon choosing a representative assembly, and then from its midst finding a government which commands sufficient support-usually, a coalition government. In Britain, which has tended to pride itself upon its tradition of strong, single-party government, importance is attached to ensuring that there is an effective administration in place.

There are two broad categories of electoral system. It is, however, possible to combine elements of the two categories. The two categories are:

1.Majoritarian systems, which are designed to leave one party with a parliamentary majority. In this category, we may include:

First Past the Post (FPTP);

The alternative vote (AV);

The double ballot.

2.Proportional systems. There are many different forms of proportional representation, all of which are designed to ensure that the number of seats allocated in the legislature is broadly in the line with the number of votes won by each party in the election.

3.Mixed systems. These represent a compromise between majoritarian and proportional systems.