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1. trifurcate [traɪ’fɜːkɪt] trifurcated adj |
– тройной |
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2. ordinary court |
– суд ординарной юрисдикции |
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3. commercial court |
– коммерческий суд |
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4. district court |
– районный руд |
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5. trial court |
– суд первой инстанции |
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6. oblast/ regional court |
– областной суд |
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7. appellate court |
– апелляционный суд |
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8. magistrate(‘s) court |
– суд магистрата, магистратский суд, мировой суд |
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9. conformity [kən’fɔːmətɪ] n |
– согласованность; соответствие |
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10. decree [dɪ’kriː] n |
– указ, постановление |
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11. directive [dɪ’rektɪv ], [daɪ-] n |
– директива, руководящее указание, распоряжение, инструкция |
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12. charter [‘ʧɑːtə] n |
– устав |
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13. comply [kəm’plaɪ] v |
– соответствовать |
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14. treaty [‘triːtɪ] n |
– договор, соглашение |
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15. impeachment [ɪm’piːʧmənt] n |
– «импичмент» (процедура привлечения к ответственности высших гражданских должностных лиц) |
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16. allegation n |
– обвинение |
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17. Federation Council |
– Совет Федерации |
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18. Federal Assembly |
– Федеральное собрание |
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– Верховный суд Российской Федерации |
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20. adopt resolution |
– принять резолюцию |
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21. provision of law |
– постановление закона |
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22. a uniform application |
– одинаковое применение |
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23. The Presidium of the Russian Supreme Court |
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24. prosecutor general |
– генеральный прокурор |
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25. acquittal [ə’kwɪt(ə)l] n |
– оправдание |
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26. The Academic Consultative Council |
– Научно-консультативный совет при Верховном Суде Российской Федерации |
Russia has a trifurcated court system, with constitutional, ordinary, and commercial courts. The Constitutional Court of Russia is considered a separate, independent court. The district courts are the primary criminal trial courts, and the regional courts are the primary appellate courts.
The ordinary courts have a four-tiered hierarchy and are responsible for civil and criminal cases:
• the Supreme Court of Russia
• regional courts
• district courts
• magistrate courts
In 1995, the courts sentenced about 1 million people for criminal offenses, and considered 3 million administrative offenses and 2.5 million civil cases.
The Constitutional Court of Russia (Конституционный суд Российской Федерации) is responsible for cases concerning conformity with the Constitution, judicial disputes between 2 or more federal bodies, between a federal body and a member of the Federation, and between members of the Federation. As such, it practices «constitutional review» (as differentiated from judicial review) and decides whether federal laws, presidential decrees and directives, and local constitutions, charters, and laws comply with the federal constitution, as well as treaties between the national government and a regional governments and between regional governments.
It is composed of 19 judges, and may sit in plenary sessions but is otherwise divided into 2 chambers. The Constitutional Court consists of two chambers with 10 and 9 judges respectively. The Chairman presides over one of the chambers, the Deputy Chairman presides over the other chamber.
Constitutionality of laws, disputes concerning competence of governmental agencies, impeachment of the President of Russia, and Constitutional Court’s proposals of legislation must be dealt with by the plenary session. The Constitutional Court may also submit to the plenary session any other issue at its discretion.
In general, the court hears cases referred by the President, the Federation Council, the State Duma, one-fifth of the members of either chamber of the Federal Assembly, the Government, the Supreme Court, or other bodies of legislative or executive authority. It also hears complains by citizens of allegations of constitutional rights violations.
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Russia is the highest court, and supervises inferior courts of general jurisdiction. It occasionally sits as a court of first instance in cases where important interests of state are at issue; in this case it normally consists of a judge and a jury, but occasionally consists of three judges.
There are 115 members of the Supreme Court. At plenary sessions the Supreme Court studies the judicial decisions of lower courts on various topics and adopts resolutions, which establish recommendations on the interpretation of particular provisions of law for lower courts for uniform application.
The Presidium of the Russian Supreme Court represents Russia’s final court of appeal. The Presidium consists of thirteen judges: the Chairman of the Supreme Court, its first deputy chairman, its six deputy chairmen and five other Supreme Court judges. Only the Prosecutor General has the right to appeal to the Presidium, and as a result, very few criminal cases reviewed by the three-judge panels of the Supreme Court make it to the Presidium. Only 0.4% of criminal cases in 1998 ended with an acquittal in the Presidium.
The court is divided into several chambers or collegia (коллегия), and each chamber normally sits with three judges:
• civil (коллегии по гражданским);
• criminal (коллегии по уголовным);
• military (Военной коллегии);
• administrative (коллегии по административным); and
• appeals (Апелляционная коллегия; formerly the cassation panel or Кассационная коллегия), which can review decisions of the other chambers.
There are several entities attached to the Supreme Court. The Academic Consultative Council assists the court in various legal and academic matters and comprises members of the Supreme Court itself, academics, practicing lawyers, and law enforcement officers. The members of the Academic Consultative Council are elected at plenary sessions of the Supreme Court. The Judicial Department is responsible for administration of the courts.
Supplementary texts
Regional courts
Regional courts (also called kray courts and city courts) are the courts at the regional level, though are not all named as such. This includes the supreme courts of the Republics of Russia, courts of the krais (territories; краевой суд or kray courts), courts of the oblasts (regions; областной суд), city courts of the federal cities of Russia (Moscow and Saint Petersburg), courts of the autonomous oblasts, and courts of the autonomous okrugs.
The courts sit as both courts of first instance and appellate courts. As courts of first instance, they hear more complex civil cases and serious criminal cases. A judge and a jury, or alternatively 3 judges, hear these cases. As appellate courts, they hear decisions of district courts that have not yet entered into force, and consist of 3 judges.
District courts
District courts (районный суд or городской суд; also called rayon or raion courts), which were called People’s Courts until 1996, are primarily courts of first instance but sometimes hear appeals from magistrate courts. They are formed in areas (районах or rayons), urban areas (районах в городах), and cities (городах). Decisions of the court are appealed to the regional court.
As courts of first instance, they handle criminal cases where imprisonment is for more than 3 years, and consist of 1 judge and a jury where required. As courts of appeal from decisions of the magistrate courts consisting of 1 justice of the peace, they consist of 1 judge and retry the case.
Arbitration courts
Arbitration courts (арбитражный суд; also called arbitrazh or commercial courts) hear cases dealing with a wide matter of contractual issues, such as rights of ownership, contract changes, performance of obligations, loans, bank accounts, and bankruptcy. They operate independently of the other courts. The system of arbitration courts is supervised 30-Judge Economic Collegium that is part of an expanded Russian Supreme Court effective from August 8, 2014.
Magistrate courts
Magistrate courts (мировой суд; also called Justices of the Peace Courts) handle criminal cases where imprisonment is for less than three years such as petty hooliganism, public drunkenness, and serious traffic violations of a non-criminal nature, minor civil cases such as simple divorces, some property cases, disputes over land, and some labor cases, as well as some federal administrative law cases. The magistrate courts were expected to hear two-thirds of all civil cases and close to 100,000 criminal cases. It consists of one magistrate or justice of the peace.