Задания к экзамену по ин яз

English courts are divided by certain features. The first distinction is between courts trying criminal cases and courts trying civil cases. The second distinction is made between the inferior courts, or courts of first instance, in which the first hearing of any judicial proceeding takes place, and the superior courts, or courts of appeal in which the judgment of the first courts are brought under review. The court of appeal is the main appeal court, whose decision may be reviewed by the House of Lords in important points of law.

The legal system also includes juvenile courts (which deal with offenders under seventeen) and coroners' courts (which investigate violent, sudden or unnatural deaths). There are administrative tribunals which make quick cheap and fair decisions with much less formality. Tribunals deal with professional standards, disputes between individuals, and disputes between individuals and government departments (e.g. over taxation).

The American court system is complex. It functions as part of the federal system of government. Each state runs its own court system, and no two are identical. The federal courts coexist with the state courts.

Individuals fall under the jurisdiction of two different court systems, their state courts and federal courts. They can sue or be sued in either system, depending mostly on what their case is about. The vast majority of cases are resolved in the state courts.

The federal courts are organised in three tiers, like a pyramid. At the bottom ofthe pyramid there are the U.S. district courts, where litigation begins. In the middle there are the U.S. courts of appeals. At the top there is the U.S. Supreme Court. To appeal means to take a case to a higher court. The courts of appeals and the Supreme Court are appellate courts, with few exceptions; they review cases that have been decided in lower courts. Mostfederal courts hear and decide wide array of cases that have been decided in lower courts. Most federal courts hear and decide a wide array of cases; the judges in these courts are known as generalists.

Ответьте на вопросы::

1. What is court in a wide sense of the word?

2. How are English courts divided?

3. What are the main functions of juvenile courts?

4. How do tribunals function?

5. In what way are the federal courts organized?