A) Scan the text and fill in the table below.
Match the courts of general jurisdiction and the cases they can try. Describe the functions of these courts.
Say if these statements are true or false.
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 belowand 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 1st 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
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
| name of the court | cases |
| 1. court of justices of the peace | a. the majority of criminal and civil cases |
| 2. district court | b. civil, administrative, criminal, and other cases by way of supervision and for newly discovered circumstances |
| 3. regional court | c. military cases |
| 4. Supreme court | d. more serious crimes and civil matters + review of the lower court’s judgments |
| 5. military courts | e. 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
| 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?