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1. executive [ɪg’zekjutɪv], [eg-] adj |
– исполнительный, принадлежащий к структурам исполнительной власти |
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2. legislature [‘leʤɪsləʧə], [-leɪʧə] n |
– законодательная власть; законодательные учреждения |
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3. judicial [ʤuː’dɪʃ(ə)l] adj |
– судебный; законный, принадлежащий закону |
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4. Federal Assembly |
– Федеральное собрание |
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5. State Duma [‘duːmə] |
– Государственная дума (нижняя палата парламента Российской Федерации) |
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6. Federation Council [‘kaun(t)s(ə)l] |
– Совет Федерации (Россия) |
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7. vest v |
– наделять правом, давать право |
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8. court [kɔːt] n |
– суд |
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9. the Ministry of Justice |
– министерство юстиции |
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10. elect [ɪ’lekt] v |
– избирать (голосованием) |
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11. consecutive [kən’sekjutɪv] adj |
– последовательный; консекутивный; (непрерывно) следующий друг за другом |
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12. commander-in-chief [kə͵mɑ:nd(ə)rınʹtʃi:f] n |
– (главно)командующий |
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13. resolve v |
– решать, разрешать |
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14. bill n |
– законопроект, билль |
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15. decoration n |
– награда, орден, знак отличия |
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16. pardon [‘pɑːd(ə)n] n |
– помилование; амнистия |
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17. implementation [ˌɪmplɪmen’teɪʃ(ə)n] n |
– выполнение, исполнение |
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18. budget [‘bʌʤɪt] n |
– бюджет; финансовая смета |
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19. monetary policy |
– кредитно-денежная политика, валютная политика |
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20. bicameral [baɪ’kæm(ə)rəl] adj |
– двухпалатный (о парламенте) |
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21. treaty [‘triːtɪ] n |
– договор, соглашение, конвенция |
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22. power of the purse |
– власть кошелька |
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23. entity [‘entɪtɪ] n |
– организация |
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24. representative [ˌreprɪ’zentətɪv] n |
– представитель |
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25. amendment [ə’men(d)mənt] n |
– поправка |
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26. youngster [‘jʌŋ(k)stə] n |
– ребенок |
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27. reject [rɪ’ʤekt] v |
– отвергать, отклонять |
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28. Supreme [s(j)uː’priːm] Court |
– Верховный суд |
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29. trial court [͵traıəlʹkɔ:t] |
– суд первой инстанции |
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30. superior court |
– главный суд первой инстанции |
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31. unenforceable adj |
– не снабжённый исковой силой, не могущий служить основанием для иска |
The Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted by national referendum on December 12, 1993
There are three branches of power in the Russian Federation: the executive, the legislative and the judicial.
The executive power is vested in the Chief of the Government and the Cabinet. The legislature is represented by the Federal Assembly of Russia. It has two chambers: the State Duma – the lower house, and the Federation Council – the upper house. The judicial power is vested in courts and administered by the Ministry of Justice.
The President
The President is the head of state and is elected by popular vote every six years for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The original constitution had four-year presidential terms, but this was amended to six years by parliament late in 2008. The President’s working residence is in the Moscow Kremlin. The President determines the basic domestic and foreign policy, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, can veto legislative bills, resolves issues of citizenship of the Russian Federation, awards state decorations and grants pardons.
The Government
Government duties are split between a number of ministries, some of which, in turn, have federal services and federal agencies answerable to them. The head of government, the prime minister, is appointed by the president and confirmed by the State Duma. The government is housed in the so-called White House in Moscow. The government ensures the implementation of domestic and foreign policy, works out the federal budget, oversees the implementation of financial and monetary policy, ensures the rule of law, human rights and freedoms.
The Parliament
The bicameral Federal Assembly makes federal law, approves treaties, declares war. Both its chambers are located in Moscow.
The Federation Council
The Federation Council of Russia is the upper house of the Russian Parliament. Created by the 1993 constitution, it was to act as a voice of Russia’s federated entities. The Council has explicitly stated that no political factions are to exist in the upper house.
Unlike the State Duma, the Council isn’t directly elected. It consists of representatives of Russia’s federal entities – each has two. One is elected by the entity’s legislature; the other is nominated by the entity’s head. The terms of the members aren’t nationally fixed, but depend on the terms of the regional bodies that chose them.
The Council works with the lower chamber to complete and vote on draft laws. But the Federation Council also has special powers of its own, including the declaration of a presidential election, impeachment of the President and decisions on the use of the armed forces outside Russia’s territory.
The State Duma
The State Duma is the lower house of the Russian Parliament. The 450 deputies are elected for terms of five years following constitutional amendments agreed by parliament late in 2008. However, the original term of four years will apply to the current Duma, as the new rules do not come into effect until after the next election. Any Russian citizen over the age of 21 is eligible to run. Half the seats used to be filled through proportional representation and the other half through single seat constituencies. Now the system has changed.
The 2007 parliamentary election used a new format whereby all deputies were elected from party-lists through proportional representation.
The term Duma comes from the Russian “dumat” (“to think”). Compared to some European democracies, the Russian Duma is quite a youngster.
Founded in 1906, it didn’t survive the 1917 revolution. But it bounced back in 1993, when Russia’s first President, Boris Yeltsin, introduced a new constitution.
All bills, even those proposed by the Federation Council, must first be considered by the State Duma. Once a bill is passed by a majority in the Duma, a draft law is sent back to the Federation Council.
If the Council rejects it, the two chambers may form a commission to work out a compromise.
The Judiciary
Two types of court make up the Russian judiciary:
I. The courts of general jurisdiction (including military courts), subordinated to the Supreme Court;
II. The Constitutional Court (as well as constitutional courts in a number of federal entities).
The municipal court is the lowest adjudicating body in the general court system. It serves each city or rural district and hears more than 90 per cent of all civil and criminal cases.
The next level of courts of general jurisdiction is the regional courts. At the highest level is the Supreme Court. Decisions of the lower trial courts can generally be appealed only to the immediately superior court. The Constitutional Court is empowered to rule on whether or not laws or presidential decrees are constitutional. If it finds that a law is unconstitutional, the law becomes unenforceable and governmental agencies are barred from implementing it. The judges of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court are appointed by the parliament’s upper house, the Federation Council.
http://russiapedia.rt.com/basic-facts-about-russia/political-system/
Text 1. Russian State Flag
The existing three-color Russian national flag was adopted by the Order of President Boris Yeltsin of December 11, 1993, replacing it’s Soviet-time red predecessor. According to the Constitution, “The national flag of the Russian Federation consists of three equal horizontal stripes – white, blue and red.”
This is the third time this three-color flag becomes the national symbol. The first to use it was Peter the Great, who on January 20, 1705 ordered to hoist this flag as a trade one on all Russian ships on Moscow, Volga and Dvina rivers. In those times the lower red stripe symbolized the Earth, the blue stripe – the sky, and the upper white stripe meant the world of God. At the same time, according to the Russian tradition, white color meant nobility, blue – honesty, red – courage and love.
But it still had to come through a tough competition with a black-yellow-white Emperor’s banner, which was proclaimed the Russian national flag by the order of Alexander II, issued on June 11, 1858. For 25 years the red-blue-white flag was used, as in the XVIII-th century, only as a trade streamer. But after Alexander II was killed, the new Emperor, Alexander III, reconsidered the matter. Before the Coronation ceremony the Interior Minister, Count Tolstoy, produced to the Emperor both flags, and Alexander chose the red-blue-white one. So, this banner regained the status of the national flag and preserved it till the October Revolution of 1917. After the Revolution it was replaced by the Soviet Red Banner. Russian Federation, as the part of the USSR, got it’s own flag, which was, however, very much alike – red with a thin blue vertical stripe, and gold star, hammer and sickle in the upper left corner. Only 76 years later the old three color flag became again the national flag of the Russian Federation.
Later, in the XIX-th century, the three stripes on the flag were thought to embody the commonwealth of three Slavonic nations – Russian, Ukranian and Belorussian. Beginning from the middle of the century the three-color flag gradually acquire functions of the national symbol. In 1856 during the Paris Congress, while the peace treaty about the end of the Crimea war was being negotiated, the red-blue-white banner was used as the national flag of the Russian Empire.
http://www.russianembassy.org/page/russian-state-flag
Text 2. Russian State Seal
As a state symbol two-headed eagle first appeared in Russia, those times Moscovia, in the XV-th century. It came from Visantium with Sophia Paleolog, member of the last Visantium Emperor dynasty, who became the wife of Ivan III, the Great Duke of Moscow.
Two-headed eagle remained the symbol of Russian Monarchy and Russian State for more than four hundred years, till the October Revolution of 1917, and regained it’s status in 1993 according to the order of President Boris Yeltsin of November 30, 1993.
There are different interpretations of this symbol. The most common version says that two heads of the eagle symbolize that Russia consists of two part – European and Asian, and they are of equal importance for the country.
The State insignia survived some changes during the pre-revolutionary history of Russia, though these changes were not too much significant. When the old Rurick dynasty ended in the XVII-th century and Romanovs came to power, the two-headed eagle remained as the symbol of Russia, though three crowns were added above the eagle. They were to embody the unity of three nations – Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian.
http://www.russianembassy.org/page/russian-state-seal
Text 3. Constitution
The Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted on December 12, 1993.
The new constitution came into force on December 25, 1993, at the moment of its official publication.
The adoption of the 1993 Constitution marked the beginning of a new era in the history of Russian statehood.
The Constitution forms the country’s legal foundation, proclaims the President of the Russian Federation the head of state and lays upon him the responsibility for defending the Constitution, human rights and civil liberties, safeguarding Russia’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and ensuring the coordinated functioning and cooperation of the state bodies of power.
http://www.russianembassy.org/page/constitution
Text 4. National anthem
The first Russian National anthem was written by composer Prince Alexander Lvov and poet Vasily Zhukovsky. Composed in December 1833, it began with the words God, save the Tsar. In 1918, The Internationale was adopted as the official song of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, later becoming the anthem of the Soviet Union. On 1 January 1944, the new Soviet anthem was played for the first time on the radio. The music was written by composer Alexander Alexandrov and the words were written by poets Sergei Mikhalkov and Gabriel El-Registan. The current national anthem uses the same music with a revised text.
Text 5. Coat of arms
The first official coat of arms was adopted by Grand Prince Ivan III in the late fifteenth century. In May 1857, the national emblem became a double-headed eagle accompanied by symbols of the various territories of the Russian Empire. The Soviet coat of arms was a globe surrounded by wheatears and ribbons inscribed with the words Workers of the World Unite in the languages of the fifteen national republics. The current coat of arms is a shield and golden double-headed eagle with two crowns holding an orb and sceptre.