The Russian Court System
The Russian court system is composed of three independent parts. They are
(1) the Courts of General Jurisdiction;
(2) the Arbitrazh (or Commercial) Courts;
(3) the Russian Federation Constitutional Courts.
The Courts of General Jurisdiction include Justices of peace, District courts, Regional courts and the Supreme Court as the highest judicial body within the courts of general jurisdiction.
Justices of peace resolve small claims at the local level.
District (rayon) courts function as courts of first instance and courts of appeals for decisions of justices of peace. These courts make initial decisions in the majority of criminal and civil cases.
Regional (oblast) courts serve as trial courts in more serious crimes and civil matters, and as appellate courts reviewing district court’s judgments.
The Supreme Court hears civil, administrative, criminal, and other cases by way of supervision and for newly discovered circumstances. The Supreme Court may issue explanations on questions concerning to judicial practice.
The military courts are included into the system of courts of general jurisdiction. They form a three tier system organized under the territorial principle and include garrison, district (navy) courts and the Military Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The Commercial Courts adjudicate commercial and economic disputes between business entities. These courts are organized at the level of constituent components of the Russian Federation.
The Russian Federation Constitutional Court adjudicates matters governed by the Russian Federation Constitution. Rulings of the Constitutional Court are binding and final. Some subjects of the Russian Federation may adopt their own "subject" constitutions, and that’s why, they have their own "subject" constitutional courts.
Ex. 34 What part of speech are the underlined words? Translate these words and sentences that contain them.
Ex.35 Find in the text all the derivatives from the words “ to supervise ”, “ to explain”, “to decide” , “ to organize”, “to operate” , “to open”, “to comply”, “valid” and translate them into Russian.
Ex. 36. Find a word or a phrase in the text which is similar in the meaning to the following: subjects, judicial body, court decision, level, court of 1st instance, obligatory, civil cases
Ex.37.Say if these statements are true or false.
There are two main groups of courts in the Russian court system.
Justices of the peace form an integral part of the system of the Commercial Courts.
The Supreme Court of the RF issues explanations on questions of court practice.
The Commercial Courts are formed at the level of subjects of the Russian Federation.
The decisions of the RF Constitutional Court are binding to all the courts of the Russian Federation.
Ex. 38. Match the courts of general jurisdiction and the cases they can try. Describe the functions of these courts.
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name of the court |
cases |
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EX. 39. Fill in the box with the appropriate information from the text “The Russian Court System”
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COURT SYSTEM OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION | |
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Part of the court system |
Competence of the court |
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courts of the general jurisdiction |
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Commercial Courts |
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the Russian Federation Constitutional Courts |
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EX.40. Choose the suitable word and translate the sentences into Russian:
The Russian judicial system (consists, includes) of the Constitutional Court, the courts of the general jurisdiction, and the State commercial courts.
The Constitutional Court (interprets, adopts) the constitution and (resolves, solves) issues related to the compliance of laws and regulations within the constitution.
The courts of general jurisdiction (hear, listen) criminal cases and (resolve, review)civil and administrative disputes.
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
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age |
experience |
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Which statement corresponds to the text?
The Law on the Status of Judges sets forth the basic requirements for the position of a judge.
A judge is a Russian citizen of 35 years old who has experience of working in legal profession.
Any citizen of our country with the experience of 5 years can be a judge.
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
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.
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Useful phrases |
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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 … |