Учебнометодическое пособие Петрозаводск 2010 ббк 81. 2Англ удк 811. 11 Г 613 Рецензенты
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Article 120 1. Judges shall be independent and submit only to the Constitution and the federal law. 2. If after considering a case, the court of law decides that an act of a state or other body contradicts the law, it shall pass an appropriate decision according to the law. Article 121 1. Judges shall be irremovable. 2. The powers of a judge be ceased or suspended only on the grounds and according to the rules fixed by the federal law. Article 122 1. Judges shall possess immunity. 2. A judge may not face criminal responsibility otherwise than according to the rules fixed by the federal law. Article 123 1. Examination of cases in all courts shall be open. Examinations in camera shall be allowed only in cases envisaged by the federal law. 2. Trial by default in criminal courts shall not be allowed except in cases fixed by the federal law. 3. Judicial proceedings shall be held on the basis of controversy and equality of the parties. 4. In cases fixed by the federal law justice shall be administered by a court of jury. Article 124 1. The courts shall be financed only from the federal budget and the possibility of the complete and independent administration of justice shall be ensured in keeping with the requirements of federal law. Article 125 1. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation consists of 19 judges. 2. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation upon requests of the President of the Russian Federation, the Council of the Federation, the State Duma, one fifth of the members of the Council of the Federation or of the deputies of the State Duma, the Government of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, the bodies of legislative and executive power of the subjects of the Russian Federation shall consider cases on the correspondence to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of:
3. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation shall resolve disputes on jurisdiction matters:
4. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, upon complaints about violations of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens and upon court requests shall check, according to the rules fixed by the federal law, the constitutionality of a law applied or subject to be applied in a concrete case. 5. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, upon the requests of the President of the Russian Federation, the Council of the Federation, the State Duma, the Government of the Russian Federation, the bodies of the legislative power of the subjects of the Russian Federation, shall give its interpretation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. 6. Acts or their certain provisions recognized as unconstitutional shall become invalid; international treaties and agreements not corresponding to the Constitution of the Russian Federation shall not be liable for enforcement and application. 7. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, upon the request of the Council of the Federation, shall provide a conclusion on the observance of the fixed procedure for advancing charges of treason or of another grave crime against the President of the Russian Federation. Article 126 1. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation shall be the supreme judicial body for civil, criminal, administrative and other cases under the jurisdiction of common courts, shall carry out judicial supervision over their activities according to federal law-envisaged procedural forms and provide explanations on the issues of court proceedings. Article 127 1. The Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation shall be the supreme judicial body for settling economic disputes and other cases examined by courts of arbitration shall carry out judicial supervision over their activities according to federal law-envisaged procedural forms and provide explanations on the issues of court proceedings. Article 128 1. The judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation shall be appointed by the Council of the Federation upon the proposals by the President of the Russian Federation. 2. Judges of other federal courts shall be appointed by the President of the Russian Federation according to the rules fixed by the federal law. 3. The powers, the rules for forming and functioning of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation shall be fixed by the federal constitutional law. Article 129 1. The Procurator’s Office of the Russian Federation shall form single centralized structure in which procurators are subordinate to superior procurators and the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation. 2. The Procurator-General of the Russian Federation shall be appointed and dismissed by the Council of the Federation upon the proposal of the President of the Russian Federation. 3. The procurators of the subjects of the Russian Federation shall be appointed by the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation by agreement with the subjects. 4. Other procurators shall be appointed by the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation. 5. The powers, organization and the rules of the functioning of the Procurator’s Office of the Russian Federation shall be determined by the federal law. 2) What adjectives are used to describe a judge? 3) What professions in the sphere of law are given in the text? 4) Write a summary of the text. 7.3 The Reform of Local Government in Russia 1) Read the heading and the words from the text and guess what reforms this text is about: distinction, state, self-government, national. Regional, cities, districts, authority, inconsistency, responsibilities, in favor of, sufficient funding. 2) Skim the text and name the “signal words” that help the author to introduce a new idea, to develop the idea, to provide examples, to explain the idea, to make a conclusion. (1) Article 12 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation makes a distinction between “state power” and “local self-government.” According to the Constitution, the institutions of the national government and the regional governments (oblasts, republics, etc.) comprise the organs of state power, while the institutions of cities and districts (“raions,” roughly equivalent to counties in the USA) are not part of the state, but are organs of local self-government. Thus the Constitution accepted the distinction between state authority and local self-government. The greatest problem was though the inconsistency between the stated responsibilities of local self-government and its financial capabilities. (2) The new law on local self-government was adopted by the Parliament in 2003. The adoption of this law seemed to mark a shift in favor of the governors. The law was supposed to assure municipal governments sufficient funding to enable them to satisfy the obligations that have been imposed on them. (3) Nevertheless, some argued that the full implementation of this law would decrease the fiscal independence of local government and would also directly subordinate local governments to regional and federal bodies. Under the reform coming from the new law, income from local taxes would decrease as a share of total government revenue. Thus the mayors of cities still must rely on transfers of funds from the budgets of the federal and regional governments in order to try to perform the functions that are expected of them. (4) Another issue arose that the implementation of that legislation would entail an enormous growth in the number of local governments in the country. Under the new law the number of “municipal formations” in Russia would increase from 11,560 to 31,298. Such a tremendous increase in the number of local governments would ensure sharp growth in the number of municipal officials and a substantial expansion of the need for financial resources to support the staff, facilities, and equipment of the new local governments. (5) The proponents of the reform hope that the actual increase in costs resulting from growth in the ranks of municipal governments will not be overwhelming if existing facilities are used in many cases and most elected officials in the smaller settlements are part-time public servants. In some locales, however, expenses are said to have risen significantly as a result of the proliferation of local government entities. (6) Whatever disadvantages of a new reform are, it’s obvious that it’s a step forward in the whole process of the reform of local government in Russia. While in the past the mayors had complained of a lack of attention from the central government, now there is confidence that the voice of the localities is finally heard. 3) Name the paragraphs which give answers to the questions below: a) What document accepted the distinction between state authority and local self-government? b) What consequences of the full implementation of the law could be foreseen? c) What major advantages of e new reform are? 7.4 Judicial Bodies of the Republic of Karelia 1) Is the text easy to understand or do you need to use a dictionary? 2) Name “the signal words” which help the author to develop the idea on how judicial authority in the Republic of Karelia is held. 3) Read the text and say whether the following topics are covered in it: a) The system of judicial authority in the Republic of Karelia. b) Documents which are obligatory for physical persons and legal entities. c) The highest judicial power body of the Republic of Karelia. d) A judicial system executing justice resolution of economic cases. e) Final judgments. f) Membership of the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Karelia. g) Competence within the Supreme Court of the Republic of Karelia Judicial authority in the Republic of Karelia is held by federal courts, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Karelia, and the magistracy of the Republic of Karelia. Judicial acts which have entered into legal force are obligatory for all bodies of the government and local self-government, public associations, officials, other physical persons and legal entities. The Constitutional Court was formed as the highest judicial power body, which protects the Constitutional order, for the first time in the history of Karelia by the Supreme Soviet of Karelia. The formation of such a body was foreseen by the Constitution of the Republic of Karelia and adopted on its base on the 17th of March, 1994 by the Law of Karelia “About the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Karelia”. The Constitutional Court of Karelia began its work in November, 1994. The personnel of the Court are fixed by the Law of Karelia and amounts to 5 persons. The Arbitration Court of the Republic of Karelia is a court in the system of arbitration courts of the RF executing justice resolution of economic cases and considering other cases within its competence according to the Arbitration code of practice of the RF and other federal laws. Founded on November 13, 1991, the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Karelia at first instance:
Cases in the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Karelia are considered by a sole judge. Collegial constitution of the court considers cases on contestation of regulatory legal acts, insolvency (bankruptcy) if not stated by the federal law otherwise, and also sent to the court of arbitration at first instance for new consideration with specifying of collegial constitution of the court. The Arbitration Court of the Republic of Karelia consisting of the judge and 2 arbitration assessors considers economic disputes and other cases arising from civil and other legal relationships if one of the parties declares its petition for consideration of the case at participation of arbitration assessors. Not final judgments of the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Karelia are appealed in the Arbitration Court of Appeal. Final judgments are appealed in the Federal Arbitration Court of the North-west District. Final judgments can be reviewed by way of judicial supervision of judgments which have become final by the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. The Arbitration Court of the Republic of Karelia has 32 judges appointed by the President of the Russian Federation. Eight judges have titles of the Honoured Lawyer of the Republic of Karelia, 4 of them are the Honoured Lawyers of the Russian Federation. The activity of the court is provided by 80 employees, of which 78 people are civil servants, 49 of them graduated from Law Faculties. Court of Arbitration of the Republic of Karelia has a Presidium, judicial board on consideration of the disputes arising from civil and other legal relationships, and judicial board for consideration of disputes arising from administrative legal relationships. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Karelia is the supreme judicial instance in the system of courts of general jurisdiction of the Republic of Karelia. It consists of 18 federal city and regional courts, and 34 judicial districts of Justices of the Peace of the republic. Within its competence it considers cases as a court at first instance in the cassation order by way of judicial supervision of newly-discovered circumstances, supervises judicial activity of subordinate courts, studies and generalizes judicial practice. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Karelia was created on September 4, 1923 as the Main Court. In June of 1937, according to the new Constitution, the Main Court was renamed into the Supreme Court of KASSR. The court has its modern name since November 13, 1991. 4) What events do the following dates from the text refer to: September 4, 1923; June, 1937; November 13, 1991; March 17, 1994; November, 1994? 5) Where and how can you use the text information? 7.5 The Political System of the USA 1) Read the heading of the text and say whether it is connected with the previous and the following texts. 2) Read the text and say whether the following topics are covered in it: a) Powers of President of the USA. b) The three branches of the federal government. c) Amendments to the Constitution of the USA. d) Types of courts in the judicial system of the USA. Washington, the capital of the United States is situated in the District of Columbia. The district is a piece of land which doesn’t belong to any state but to all the states. All these states are sovereign. The executive branch is headed by the President, who proposes bills to Congress, enforces federal laws, serves as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and with the approval of the Senate, makes treaties. President can veto a bill unless Congress by a two-thirds vote shall overrule him. The President is chosen in nation-wide elections every 4 years together with the Vice-President. The vice President, elected from the same political party as the President, acts as chairman of the Senate, and in the event of the death of the President, assumes the Presidency. Under the Constitution, the federal government is divided into three branches. The legislative power is vested in Congress and made up of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representative. There are 435 members in the House of Representative and 100 senators. Each state elects two members of the 100-member Senate. Constitution has been amended 26 times. The Bill of Rights guarantees individual liberties: freedom of speech, religion and so on. Later amendments abolish slavery, grant the vote to women and allow citizens to vote at the age of 18. The judicial branch is made up of Federal District Courts, 11 Federal Courts and the Supreme Court. Federal judges are appointed by the President for life. Federal courts decide cases involving federal law, conflicts between citizens of different states. The Supreme Court may rule the law to be unconstitutional. |