The court system of the russian federation

Section 1

The Russian Court System

Exercise 1

Pronunciation practice

Practise saying the words.

a) [ɔ:] law; source

[(j)u:] supreme; review; newly-discovered; include; rulings; adjudicate; dispute

[dʒ] major; majority; jurisdiction; judicial; regional, general; legislative

[ʌ] judgment; justice; subject; function; govern; government

[ʃ] constitution; constitutional; commercial; federation; initial

[ai] trial; crime; highest; binding; final

[s] peace; civil; instance; circumstance; practice

[k] courts; claim; circumstance; constituent; component; contradict

[ʒ] decision; supervision

[i]within; business; entity; written; legal

[tʃ] chamber

[u:] group

b)Mind the stress:

inde´pendent; a´ppellate; ad´ministrative; com´ponent

c) Practise saying the words:

Courts of General Jurisdiction; Commercial Courts; the Russian Federation Constitutional Court, Justices of peace; district courts; regional courts; the Supreme Court; the highest judicial body; trial courts; appellate courts; military courts; the Military Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

Exercise 2

Match the English word combinations with their Russian equivalents.

trial courts	решение (суда)
district court	исковое требование на небольшую сумму
general jurisdiction	общая юрисдикция
rulings of the court	арбитражный суд
commercial court (RF)	мировой судья
small claims	районный суд
Justice of the peace	суд первой инстанции

Exercise 3

Grammar focus 4. Participles. Revision.

Participle II = a regular verb + ed OR III form of an irregular verb

Participle I = Verb + ing

11. Make participles:

Verb	Participle I	Participle II
write
contradict
review
concern
make
govern
bind

b) Use the appropriate form of the verbs (Participle I, Participle II) in the sentences. Translate the sentences:

1. The US Constitution is the basic …. set of principles and precedents of federal government in the US. (to write)

2. This advocate often talks in circles, often ….. himself and often ends up saying nothing. (to contradict)

3. The Supreme Court explains questions ……. judicial practice. (to concern)

Text 1 the court system in russia

Pre-reading tasks:

a) Answer the following questions using your background knowledge:

What sources of law do you know?

What do you think is the primary source of law in Russia?

Are there criminal and civil courts in our country?

Are there any specialized courts in our country? What cases do they consider?

b) Skim the text and divide it into the logical parts. Entitle them.

Russia belongs to the continental legal system, and a written law is the main legal source. So, the supreme law in Russia is the Constitution. Other major legal sources include federal constitutional laws and federal laws. Any law cannot contradict the Constitution.

The Russian court system is composed of three independent parts. They are

(1) the Courts of General Jurisdiction;

(2) the Commercial (Arbitrazh) Courts;

(3) the Russian Federation Constitutional Court.

The Courts of General Jurisdiction include Justices of the peace, District courts, Regional courts and the Supreme Court.

Justices of the 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 the 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 is the highest judicial body within the courts of general jurisdiction. It 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 judicial practice.

The military courts are included into the system of courts of general jurisdiction. They 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 RF Constitutional Court adjudicates matters governed by the RF Constitution. Rulings of the Constitutional Court are binding and final. Some subjects of the Russian Federation have their own "subject" constitutional courts (14 courts) and also charter courts (4 courts). 

Exercise 4

Find Participle I and Participle II in the text. Translate sentences with them.

Exercise 5

Find in the text all the derivatives of the words below and translate them into Russian:

to supervise, to explain, to decide, to organize, to constitute

Exercise 6

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 1^st instance, obligatory, civil cases, interpretations

Exercise 7

Find a word or a phrase in the text which is opposite in the meaning to the following:

to comply with, unwritten, final( decision), minor (crime), the lowest court

Exercise 8

Say if these statements are true or false.

1. All the laws must comply with the Constitution.

2. In our country the principal source of law is precedent.

3. There are two main groups of courts in the Russian court system.

4. Justices of the peace form an integral part of the system of the Commercial Courts.

5. The Supreme Court of the RF issues interpretations on questions of court practice.

6. The decisions of the RF Constitutional Court are obligatory to all the courts of the Russian Federation.

Exercise 9

Choose the suitable word and translate the sentences into Russian:

1. The Russian judicial system (consists, includes) of the Constitutional Court, the courts of the general jurisdiction, and the State commercial courts.

2. The Constitutional Court (interprets, adopts) the constitution and (resolves, solves) issues related to the compliance of laws and regulations with the constitution.

3. The courts of general jurisdiction (hear, listen) criminal cases and (resolve, review) civil and administrative disputes.

4. Disputes regarding business activity are (heard, governed) before the State Commercial courts.

Exercise 10

Match the courts of general jurisdiction and the cases they can try. Describe the functions of these courts.

name of the court	cases
court of justices of the peace	the majority of criminal and civil cases
district court	civil, administrative, criminal, and other cases by way of supervision and for newly discovered circumstances
regional court	military cases
Supreme court	more serious crimes and civil matters + review of the lower court’s judgments
military courts	small claims at the local level

Exercise 11

Fill in the box with the appropriate information from the text “The Russian Court System”

COURT SYSTEM OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Part of the court system	Competence of the court
courts of the general jurisdiction
Commercial Courts
the Russian Federation Constitutional Court

Exercise 12

a) Scan the text and fill in the table below.

Court	Age of judges	Experience

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.

b) Which statement corresponds to the text?

1. The Law on the Status of Judges sets forth the basic requirements for the position of a judge.

2. A judge is a Russian citizen of 35 years old who has experience of working in legal profession.

3. Any citizen of our country with the experience of 5 years can be a judge.

4. 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?

Exercise 13

Grammar focus 5. Reported speech.

am ,is → was; are →were; do, does →did

look, feel etc.(present) →looked, felt etc. (past)

have ,has → had; can → could

will → would

ORIGINAL WORDS (DIRECT SPEECH)	REPORTED WORDS (INDIRECT SPEECH)
You look nice.	I told her that she looked nice.
I can’t swim.	He said that he couldn’t swim.
I am learning French.	She thought that she was learning French.
Has he forgotten?	I wondered if he had forgotten.
John phoned.	She reported that John had phoned.
Will you marry me?	I asked him if he would marry me.

a) Translate sentences from English into Russian.

1. The reporter asked the judge why he had chosen this career.

2. Sarah claimed that she wanted to work at the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation.

3. Angelina explained that she would not have enough work experience after graduating from the Academy.

4. The judge said that he was going to read a newspaper before the court session.

5. She said that he could not remember what the case was about.

6. He told us that the court trial would be very complicated.

b) Read the dialogue and change the sentences from direct to reported speech.

Ann: Hi, Mary! Where are you going?

Mary: I am going to the Regional court. My friend works as a judge there.

Ann: Oh, really! I have never been to the court! I have never seen a judge! May I go with you?

Mary: Sure. When we come to the court, we’ll have to pass through security including metal detectors.

Ann: Oh, it’s so exciting!

Mary: And it is necessary to have a passport for identification. If you have no passport, you won’t be allowed to enter the court building.

Ann: Oh, I’ve left my passport at home! What shall we do?

Mary: I am terribly sorry, but you’ll have to go to the court next time.

c) Translate sentences from Russian into English.

1. Преподаватель сказал, что мы будем писать контрольную по судебной системе на следующей неделе.

2. Студенты узнали, что Верховный суд США это высшая судебная инстанция в США.

3. Мы спросили судью, когда было рассмотрено то сложное дело.

4. В статье говорилось, что дело было пересмотрено по вновь открывшемся обстоятельствам на прошлой неделе.

5. Девушка думала, что она переводит текст про арбитражные суды.

6. Я знал, что в Конституционном суде РФ 19 судей.

Exercise 14

Dialogue focus. Presentations.

Make a presentation to describe the court system in Russia according to the plan:

1. Sources of law in the Russian Federation.

2. The main groups of courts in the RF.

3. The Courts of General Jurisdiction (structure and competence).

4. The Commercial Courts (structure and competence).

5. The Russian Federation Constitutional Courts (structure and competence).

Make use of the expressions below.

HOW TO MAKE A PRESENTATION

1. Greeting the audience

Good morning/good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming

2. Introducing yourself 

My name is ….and I’m +position

I’m +name+from+organization

3. Stating the purpose

Today I'm going to tell you about...

I’m here today to talk about…

4. Stating the main points

My presentation consists of three parts

First , I’ll tell you about….

Second , I’ll talk about....

Finally, we are going to look at…

5. Main part

a) Let's start/begin with ...

Now let's move on to  ...

And finally I'd like to turn to…

b) Showing visuals and giving more details

I'd like to show you a picture/a photo..

I'd like to add (that)…

6. Summarizing

So, first I spoke about

Then we talked about

Finally, we looked at

7. Conclusion

In conclusion, I’d like to say that…

8. Questions

Now if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them