The courts in Russia

The court is an organ of state that administers justice on the basis of the laws of the state.

There are courts of first instance and second instance. A court of first instance examines a case in substance and brings in a sentence or a judgement. A court of second instance.examines appeals and protests against sentences and judgements of courts of first instance. However, any court may sit as a court of first instance.

The basic judicial organ is the district court. It tries both criminal and civil cases. The district court consists of a judge and two assessors. Cases are tried in public and proceedings are oral. The participants in the trial (the victim, the accused, the plaintiff, the defendant and others) speak in open court. The accused has the right to defence.

The higher courts are city courts, regional courts and others. These courts hear and determine more important cases, They also sit as courts of appeals.

The highest judicial organ is the country's Supreme Court supervising the activities of ail the judicial organs of the state.

As a court of first instance it tries the most important criminal and civil cases, It also, hears appeals, against sentences and judgements of iower courts.

EXERCISE I. Translate into Russian and learn the following word-combinations from the text:

1.to administer justice

2.a court of first (second) instance

3.to examine a case in substance

4.to bring in a sentence (a judgement)

5.to sit (о суде)

6.a district court, a regional court

7.to hear (to try, to examine) a case, to determine a case

8.a higher court, a lower court

9.to supervise the activities of a court
10. an assessor

11.in public

EXERCISE II. Translate into English:

а) о судах первой и второй инстанции;

б) об основном судебном органе страны;

в) о вышестоящих судах;

г) о Верховном Суде;

д) о характере судебного процесса и его участниках.

EXERCISE III. Answer the questions on the text:

1.What organ administers justice in the country?

2.What is the function of a court of first (second) instance?

3.What is the basic judicial organ in the country?

4.What are the courts of higher instance?

5.What is the highest judicial organ in the country?

6.What are the functions of the Supreme Court?

7.What are the participants of.the trial?

8.How are cases tried in our courts?

The Russian Court and the Procurator's Office.

The Russian Court is an organ of state that administers justice on the basis of the laws of the Russian State.'

The basic Russian judicial organ is the district People's Court which consists of a judge and two people's assessors having the rights of a judges when the court is in session.

The majority of the cases are heard by ihe district People's Court. More important cases such as the crimes against the slate are determined by the regional court or a court of equal standing.

Judgements and sentences excluding those passed by the Supreme Court may be appealed against in a court of The Supreme Court of Russia is the highest judicial organ of the Russian State. It is charged to supervise the work of all judicial organs.

The Procurator's Office is established to exercise supervisory power over the strict observance and application of the law by all organizations, officials as well as by all citizens of the country.

Other duties of the Procurator's Office are to investigate criminal cases, collect evidence against the criminals and. See to it that "other investigating bodies act according to the law.

So it may be said that the Procurator's Office, like all the Russian courts, protects legality, and law and order.

EXERCISE I. Read and translate the following word-combinations from the text:

to administer justice people's assessors a judgement a sentence

-

to appeal against

to be in session

the Procurator's Office

supervisory power

an official.

evidence

a criminal

legality

law and order

EXERCISE II. Answer the following questions on the text:

1.What is the basic Russian judicial organ?

2.Whom does the district people's court consist of?

3.What cases are heard by the district people's court?

4.What cases are determined by the regional court?

5.What is the highest judicial organ of the Russian State?

6.What are the functions of the Procurator's Office?

7.What does the Procurator's Office protect?

LESSON № 3 CRIME

A crime is understood as a socially dangerous act (or omission) directed against social and state system, the system of economy, property and other rights of citizens or any other act that is infringing law and order and is defined in criminal legislation as dangerous to society.

Criminal legislation states that there can be no criminal responsibility where there is no material element of an act, namely, its socially dangerous nature. In consequence, criminal law does not regard as a crime an aci or omission which, even if formally containing features of some act covered by criminal law, does not constitute a danger to society on account of its triviality.

Each crime consists of a number of individual elements. Those elements characterize the purpose of the criminal act, the form and method of a criminal action, the character of the criminal act and so forth. The sum total elements defining a specific crime comprises what is known as the corpus delicti of a crime. The corpus delicti in any act is ground for establishing criminal responsibility against the offender. A person may not be considered guilty of having committed [1] a crime unless the several elements of corpus delicti of a given crime have been established in his acts. In the absence of any element of corpus

delicti in the acts of the accused, criminal proceedings may not be instituted, and if instituted, may not be continued, and must be stopped at any stage.

In pronouncing its sentence the court must above all answer these questions: a) did the act ascribed to the accused actually take place?

b) does it contain corpus delicti? c) was the act performed by the accused?

The object of a crime is under criminal law social relations guarded by criminal legislation. This means that all crimes prescribed by the Criminal Code are in the final count aimed against social relations taking shape and developing in society. However, each crime has an immediate object. Thus, murder has as its immediate object human life; theft — state, collective or personal property; rowdyism — public law and order etc.

A crime may be committed by an act, i. e., the active behaviour of a person, or by an omission, i. e., the non-performance of acts which it was his duty to perform (such as failure to use authority).

The subject of a crime is a person who commits the crime and is responsible for it. Only persons who have attained a certain age and are compos mentis can be subjects of a crime. Persons who have reached the age of 16 years before the commission of the crime are criminally responsible; for some crimes (murder, deliberate infliction of bodily injury impairing health, brigandage, stealing, robbery, rowdyism with evil intent, etc.) the age is 14 years.

Actually, the age limit for some crimes (committed by persons in office in their official capacity, military crimes, etc.) is considerably higher.

A person who, at the time of the commission of a socially dangerous act, is non-compos mentis, i. e. is unable to account for his actions or to govern them in consequence of chronic mental disease, temporary mental derangement, weak-mindedness or some other morbid state, is not held criminally responsible. Obligatory medical treatment as established by criminal legislation of the state (placing in a general or special mental hospital) may be applied to such a person by an order of the court.

A person who, at the time of the commission of a crime, is compos mentis but who, before a sentence is passed by the court, is affected by mental derangement, is not liable to punishment. By an order of the court compulsory medical treatment may be applied to such a person and on recovery from his illness he

may be liable to punishment. A person committing a crime while in a state of drunkenness is not relieved of criminal responsibility.

1) having committed (Perfect Gerund) — здесь: совершение-

Vocabulary. Study these words and word-combinations:

1. to infringe — посягать на

2. to contain — содержать

3. to constitute — здесь: представлять