PART 5. National Judicial Systems
1. UNIT 1. Judicial Branch of Russian Government _________ 4
2. UNIT 2. Russian System of Courts ______________________ 9
3. UNIT 3. Court hearing________________________________ 14
4. UNIT 4. Judicial Branch of the United States of America __ 18
5. UNIT 5. Judicial Branch of the United Kingdom __________ 25
6. UNIT 6. Briefing a Case______________________________ 32
PART 6. The United Nations Organization. Human Rights Declaration
8. UNIT 1. History of the UN ______________________________ 39
9. UNIT 2. The UN General Assembly. The UN Security Council __ 44
10. UNIT 3. What the UN Does for Peace. ____________________ 51
11. UNIT 4. The Declaration of Human Rights _________________ 58
12. Unit 5. Contracts ________________________________ 69
PART V
NATIONAL JUDICIAL SYSTEMS
Unit 1
JUDICIAL BRANCH OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT
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1. Подумайте и ответьте на вопросы. Используйте выражения, данные в рамке.
| I really think (that)… Я действительно думаю, что… I strongly believe (that)… Я твердо убежден, что… In my opinion… По моему мнению… What I think is (that)… Я думаю, что… I feel (that)… Я полагаю (считаю), что… Hmm, I’m not sure, but… Я не уверен, но… I’m keeping an open mind for the moment. Пока у меня нет никакого мнения на этот счет |
1. Look at the picture above. What can you see? Do you know the meaning of the symbols: a sword, a balance. Why is the woman blindfold?
2. Remember, what is the core of the separation of powers and system of checks and balances? What is the role of judiciary in these systems?
3. Does the society really need judiciary? Can we live without this branch?
4. What rights do the citizens have in this sphere?
5. Do you feel that courts can protect your rights?
Прочитайте и переведите текст со словарем.
TEXT 1
Judiciary of Russia
The existing judicial system of the Russian Federation was formed and is being developed as a result of a judicial reform carried out in Russia from the beginning of the 90s with the purpose to create and maintain the judicial power in the state mechanism as an independent branch of power, free from political and ideological bias, independent in its activities from the executive and legislative branches of power. Independent, competent law court is an important component of a democratic state. In the area of justice, special attention is given to implementation of the principle of rule of law, in particular, independence of judges, access to justice and right to fair trial.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 became the main legal basis for the introduction of the judicial reform. For the first time the Constitution contained a Chapter “Judicial Power” according to which the state power in the Russian Federation should be exercised on the basis of its division into legislative, executive and judicial powers, and all these branches of power should be independent. The structure of the judicial system of the Russian Federation and the sphere of activities of its various parts are determined by the Constitution and federal constitutional laws (Chapter 7 Article 118 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).
According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 118) only the courts can enforce justice in the Russian Federation. Judicial power enforces justice by means of constitutional, civil, administrative and criminal proceedings. It is forbidden to establish extraordinary courts.
The Federal Constitutional Law on Judicial System of the Russian Federation was adopted in late 1996 and enacted on the 1st of January 1997. Along with the Constitution of Russia, the Law is the basis of legal regulation, organization and activity of all judicial bodies in the country. All other federal constitutional and federal laws in the area of judicial organization comply with this Federal Constitutional Law. Judicial system in Russia is a combination of judicial bodies that exercise functions of the judiciary and share the same tasks and methods of work.
The judicial power in Russia is exercised by the Constitutional Court of Russia, general jurisdiction courts and arbitration courts by means of constitutional, civil, administrative and criminal judicial proceedings. Courts, in turn, are divided into federal courts and courts of the constituent entities of Russia.
Under the constitution all trials in all law courts are open (the hearing of a case can be in camera in cases provided by the federal law) and conducted on an adversarial and equal basis.
The judiciary of the Russian Federation is formed using the following principles:
· Judges are appointed (federal court judges are appointed by presidential order);
· Candidates for positions of judge in the Russian Federation's Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and the Higher Arbitration Court are approved by the parliament's upper chamber based on the president's recommendation;
· There is a system of reappointment (a federal court judge is appointed for the first time for a three year term, at the end of which he can be reappointed to that position for an unlimited period until he reaches retirement age);
· There is an enforced retirement age for judges (65 years);
The qualifying judicial board is a key body for preparing and making decisions about appointing, reappointing and ending the terms of judges, as well as for rating their performance. The judicial board is mainly made up of representatives of the judiciary; it is also mandatory that a representative of the president of the Russian Federation should be on the board. Apart from the functions of selecting the membership of the community of judges, the qualifying judicial board has to supervise the judges' activities. If a judicial board receives complaints about a judge's activity, the judge could be subject a disciplinary penalty or suspended from his duties.
Переведите следующие слова и словосочетания из текста.
- the judicial system
- competent law court
- constitutional/civil/administrative/criminal proceeding
- arbitration courts
- the qualifying judicial board
- to be suspended from the duties
- to maintain the judicial power
- to enforce justice
- to comply with
- courts of the constituent entities of Russia
- mandatory
- to be subject to disciplinary penalty
13. access to justice
