Основы политической системы США (стр. 6 )

The first level of federal courts – the district courts exercise original jurisdiction in federal matters. That is, they serve as trial courts for both criminal and civil cases arising under the laws of the United States. The 50 states are divided into 89 districts so that litigants may have a trial within east reach. Additionally, there is one in the District of Columbia and one in Puerto Rico. The district courts are the courts where trials are held, juries are used, and witnesses are called.

Courts of Appeals (also known as circuit courts) stand midway between the district courts and the Supreme Court and were created in 1891 to ease the Supreme Court’s workload. The United States is divided into 12 separate appeals circuits, each served by a court of appeals with from 3 to 15 sitting judges. Appeals are normally accepted only on the basis of 1) an improper courtroom procedure or 2) an incorrect application of the law. Because the Supreme Court reviews only about 4% of the cases it is asked to consider, decisions made by the courts of appeals are usually the final word on most district court decisions.

The Supreme Court is the highest court of the United States. Under the American system of checks and balances, the Supreme Court often plays a crucial role in charting the course of American society. The nine justices who occupy the Supreme Court bench serve as the final decision makers on all questions of federal law. They also serve as the court of final resort for any lower court decisions that involve federal jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court is made of eight associate justices and a Chief Justice. The Constitution is silent on the qualification for judges. A Supreme Court justice may have been a Senator, an Attorney General, a teacher in a law school, or even the administrator of an agency, that acts like a preme Court justices are appointed by the president but must be confirmed by the Senate. The Justices hold their seats for life unless they resign, retire, or are impeached. Presidents are likely to appoint justices whose views are similar to their own, with the hope that these justices can extend some of heir power through the judicial branch. Thus, a president fortunate enough to fill several Supreme Court vacancies can change the Court’s philosophy for a generation.

The Constitution limits the Supreme Court to original jurisdiction over two types of cases: those that involve two or more of the states and those that affect foreign ambassadors and other public ministers. All other cases reach the Supreme Court on appeal from lower courts. A significant amount of the work of the Supreme Court, however, consists of determining whether legislation or executive acts conform to the Constitution. This is the power of judicial review.

In the past, Supreme Court rulings have given new protection and freedom to blacks and other minorities. The Supreme Court has nullified certain laws of Congress and has even declared actions of American presidents unconstitutional.

There are special courts of the United States, so called because they have jurisdiction over special subject matter. The title of each generally indicates its jurisdiction. The oldest is the United States Court of Claims (established in 1982), which hears claims of private individuals against the Government for breach of contracts, for injuries cause by negligent behavior of government employers. The Probate Court has jurisdiction over wills, estates, guardians, and minors. Other special courts include the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, the Tax Court.

The system of state courts looks like the three-layer system of Federal courts: general trial courts (different states give different names to these courts: circuit courts, superior courts, courts of common pleas, and country courts), state appeals courts and state supreme courts. A Supreme Court has the power to declare State law unconstitutional.

Standing at the bottom of the state courts pyramid are minor state courts. In some states, the judicial system begins with the justice of the peace courts (also known as magistrate courts or police courts), where the judge or magistrate (the justice of the peace) is elected by the community to resolve minor legal problems. They hear and decide on less serious cases, e. g. stealing or decide if there is enough evidence for a more serious case to go to a higher court. Some states also have special traffic courts, probate courts, courts of small claims, juvenile courts, and domestic relations (family) courts.

The municipal courts rank a step above the minor courts. They have replaced the older police and magistrate courts in many larger communities.

NOTES:

The Constitutional Convention

In February 1787, the Continental Congress, the legislative body of the republic, issued a call for the states to send delegates to Philadelphia to revise the “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union” (adopted by a Congress of the states in 1777). The Constitutional, or Federal, Convention convened on May 25, 1787. Although the delegates had been authorized only to amend the Articles of the Confederation, they pushed the Articles aside and proceed to construct a charter for a wholly new, more centralized form of government.

THE PATH TO THE SUPREME COURT

STATE COURTS FEDERAL COURTS

APPELLATE JURISDICTION

GENERAL JURISDICTION

Task 1. Find in the text the English for:

Task 1. Find in the text the English for:

1.  рассматривать судебное дело

2.  трактовать закон по собственному усмотрению

3.  обладать правом занимать должность судьи пожизненно

4.  облегчить работу Верховного Суда (взять на себя часть нагрузки)

5.  в конституции ничего не говорится о…

6.  принимать апелляции на основе…

7.  играть решающую роль в определении курса развития общества

Glossary

Supreme Court	Верховный Суд
Chief justice	Верховный Судья, председатель Верховного Суда
associate justice	судья Верховного Суда
civil case	гражданское дело
to hear a case	слушать дело
decide a case	выносить решение по делу
to try a case/smb	проводить суд по делу/судить к-л
to handle a case	вести дело
district court	федеральный районный суд, федеральный суд первой инстанции
appellate court	апелляционный суд, суд второй инстанции
(circuit) court of appeals	окружной апелляционный суд (федеральный суд второй инстанции)
juvenile court	суд по делам несовершеннолетних
police court	суд по делам о мелких преступлениях
magistrate court	мировой суд
inferior (lower) court	нижестоящий суд
court of small claims	суд мелких тяжб (в ряде штатов США для скорейшего разрешения дел с небольшой исковой суммой)
United States Court of Claims	претензионный суд (суд для рассмотрения исков к США)
Court of Customs & Patent Appeals	апелляционный суд по таможенным и патентным делам
Probate Court	суд по делам наследства, опеки несовершеннолетних и т. п.
Tax Court	налоговый суд
review the decision of (the court)	пересмотреть решение суда
judiciary	судоустройство, судебная власть, судебно-правовая система
the court of original jurisdiction	суд первой инстанции
come under the jurisdiction of…	подпадать под юрисдикцию (суда)
justice of the Peace	мировой судья
(minor) offense	(мелкое) правонарушение
commit an offense	совершить правонарушение

Section 3.

Read and discuss.

Street Law.

A Course in Practical Law

The Adversary System

The trial system in the United States is an adversary process. This means it is a contest between opposing sides. The theory of this process is that the trier of fact (judge or jury) will be able to determine the truth if the opposing parties present their best arguments and show the weakness in the other side’s case.