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Russian Judicial system
The Russian Federation is a Presidential (or a constitutional) republic. The President is the head of the state and is elected directly by the people. In fact he has much power, he controls all the three branches of power. The President can even dissolve the Duma if he doesn't agree with his suggestions three times running. The President has his administration, but it's not part of the Federal Government. The President is involved in the work of the legislative and executive branches.
The Federal Assembly represents the Legislative branch of power. It's made up of the two houses: the Federation Counsel and the State Duma, which make laws. The Federal Assembly is also called the Parliament, but it's not its official name. Both chambers are headed by chairmen sometimes called speakers. The Duma consists of 450 deputies (one half is elected personally by the population, and the other half consists of the deputies who are appointed by their parties after voting). The members of the Federation Counsel are elected on a different basis. There are two representatives of each subject of the RF (89 subjects). Every law to be adapted must be approved by the State Duma, the Counsel of Federation and signed by the President. The President can veto laws passed by the Federal Assembly, but it can pass laws over the President's veto a two-thirds majority.
The Federal Government represents the executive branch of power. The President appoints its head, the Chainman of the Government, but the Dums must approve his appointment.
The juridical branch of power consists of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and lower Courts. The responsibility of the Constitutional Court is to analyze the new laws to make sure they correspond to the laws of the state. The Constitutional Court has the right to declare actions of the President, the Federal Assembly and the Federal Government unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is the highest instance for civil and criminal cases.
7. The Congress of the USA
According to the US constitution, the powers of the government are divided into 3 branches: the executive, headed by the president, the legislative, exercised by the Congress and the judicial.
The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate represents the states. Each state is guarantied at least one representative in the House. The remainder are apportioned among the states according to their population. The Senate of US is composed of one hundred members — two being elected from each state.
Senators are chosen for six years, one-third retiring or seeking is re-elected every two years. Two senators from the same state never finish their terms at the same time, one of them is called "Senior Senator" and the other — "Junior Senator".
The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States. The Vice-President is not a member of the chamber over which he presides and he sometimes is not a member of the party in power.
The work of the US Congress is done mostly in different committees. The most important of the Senate committees are Appropriations Foreign Relations, Finance, Armed Services.
In the House of Representatives the most important are Rules, Appropriations, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Agriculture. The chairmen of the standing committees are considered the real rulers of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
8. The President of the USA
Every four years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, millions of Americans go to the polls to choose a new leader in a free and open election. The candidates, nominated during the preceding summer at the conventions of their respective political parties, have waged vigorous campaigns. Through the media of radio, television, newspapers, and magazines, they have made known their views on both national and international affairs and have become familiar faces to the people.
On Inauguration Day, January 20, the successful candidate for the high office of president of the United States takes this oath of office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will do the best of my ability preserve, to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." This is the same oath that has been taken by every American president since George Washington.
9. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet
The party which wins the most seats in the General Election forms the government in Britain. The leader of the winning party becomes Prime Minister. As leaders of their political parties and leaders of the country, Prime Ministers are powerful because they have the majority support in Parliament and they can choose their own ministers and government. The PM, chooses a committee of ministers called the Cabinet. This is made up of a selection of senior MPs from the House of Commons and some members of the House of Lords. Each member of the Cabinet is a minister responsible for a government department: for example, the Secretary of State for Education and Science is responsible for all the schools, universities and teachers in Britain. The Cabinet of ministers runs the country. The Cabinet meets at the Prime Minister's house — 10 Downing Street. The cabinet works as a team and all ministers must accept the decisions of the "group". The team of ministers must always agree in public because they are collectively responsible for the decisions they make. If a minister cannot agree with all the others, he usually resigns from the cabinet.
Cabinet meetings are held in private and the details must remain secret for at least 30 years. Margaret Thatcher tried to change this style of the Cabinet and was forced to resign when the other ministers could not agree with her. Cabinet ministers cannot, however, do as they please! They are responsible to Parliament and must answer questions from backbenchers from the House of Commons. Even the Prime Minister must answer questions every Tuesday and Thursday in the Commons — this is «called Prime Minister's Question Time. Everyone wants to know what has been decided behind the closed doors of the Cabinet Room.
10. Criminal law
Every crime is made up of certain elements. At trial, each element of a particular crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict a person. A single act can be both a criminal and a civil wrong. For example, the state can prosecute and punish the person for the crime, and the injured person can sue for damages in civil court.
Crimes against the person include homicide, suicide, kidnapping, assault, battery, and rape. They are all serious offences that can result in harsh punishments. Homicide — the killing of one human being by another — is classified as criminal or non-criminal. A criminal homicide committed with malice aforethought is known as murder, otherwise it is called manslaughter. Murder is the most serious form of criminal homicide. In voluntary manslaughter, the killer loses control in response to the victim’s actions. Although the killer is still responsible for the killing, the law recognizes that the killer had an altered state of mind that may have prevented him or her from acting rationally. Involuntary manslaughter is an accidental killing resulting from a person’s careless behavior toward others.
Suicide is the deliberate taking of one’s own life. Courts generally treat attempted suicide as a plea for help and demand that the individual should seek treatment. The courts may order a psychological examination or treatment for someone who has attempted suicide. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among teenagers. Kidnapping involves taking a person away against his or her will. The law often treats assault and battery as very similar crimes. Assault is an attempt or threat to cause a physical attack upon another person. Battery is any unlawful physical contact inflicted by one person upon another person without consent. Even if actual injury does not occur, a person may be charged with battery if he or she intended to harm the other person. Rape is sexual intercourse without consent. Rape is sexual intercourse without consent. Rape laws recognize that either males or females can commit or be victims of this crime. The category of crimes against property includes two groups—crimes in which property is destroyed and crimes in which property is stolen or taken against the owner’s will. Arson and vandalism are examples of crimes involving the destruction of property. Arson is the intentional and malicious burning of another person’s property. Vandalism is the willful destruction of or damage to another person’s property. Effects of vandalism include broken windows, graffiti, and damage to cars. There are many other categories of crimes that involve taking property against the will of the owner. Robbery is the taking of property from a person’s immediate possession by using force or threats, and is therefore also a crime against a person. Burglary is the unlawful entry into any dwelling or structure with the intention to commit a crime. A person who is entrusted with property but then takes it unlawfully is guilty of embezzlement. Blackmail takes place when one person uses threats to obtain another person’s property. ones.
11. Civil law
By ‘offer and acceptance’ the court requires to be satisfied that there was an offer made by one party, which was unconditionally accepted by the party to whom the offer was made. At the moment when the offer and acceptance meet, it is said «consensus ad idem». This means that the parties have reached an agreement. An offer may be made orally, in writing or by conduct. An example of an offer made by conduct is where a customer in a supermarket chooses goods and hands them to the cashier, who then accepts the customer’s offer to buy. An offer may be made to a definite person (or group of persons) or to the whole world, i.e. generally. Where an offer is made to one person only, or a group of persons, only that person or that group may accept. Where an offer is made to the whole world, anyone may accept by complying with the terms of the offer.
The intention to create legal relations is fundamental to the whole concept of making a contract since unless the court is satisfied that both parties, whether expressly or impliedly, have agreed that the agreement between them shall have legal consequences, it will not recognize that agreement as a contract. The person who buys a loaf of bread, or takes a short bus ride, may not consciously realize that he, in each instance, is entering into a contract; although if he discovers a piece of string in the loaf, or if the bus driver through his carelessness has an accident in which the passenger is injured, then the person concerned will take a different view of the two agreements. The courts regard such agreements as having the implied consent of the parties that they shall have legal effect, and are thus contracts.
Consideration is the mutual promise to exchange things of value which the parties to a contract obtain under the terms of their agreement. It is the bargain which is made. The court will not examine the actual value in money terms which each party is to get, to see whether or not the exchange is reasonable. Instead it will ensure that each party got what it bargained for under the agreement. The court will not set itself up as an arbiter of value; it will limit itself to seeing that the agreed consideration passed between the parties. This is what is meant by saying that «consideration must be real, but need not be adequate». Another well-known term in this context is «caveat emptor»– let the purchaser beware. This term is applied because it is the purchaser of goods who makes the offer, and therefore he should take great care to ensure that he is getting the consideration he requires.
Special rules have been built up in contract to deal with the position of persons under 18 who are minors; persons who enter into contracts when drunk or suffering from mental illness; bankrupts, corporations and unincorporated associations. These rules are grouped under the heading of «capacity», in the sense that the law makes provision for the ordinary adult of sound mind, and any party who does not fall within this definition is covered by special rules.
In some circumstances the court is faced with a plea by one party that, although he has made the contract, he did not genuinely give his consent when entering into it. This may be because he made a mistake of fundamental significance to the contract, or it can be that the other party, by misrepresentation about the subject-matter, persuaded him to make the contract. If this plea is made, the court inevitably is put on inquiry to see whether or not the contract was properly entered into. If it is found that the mistake or misrepresentation did affect the consent, the court may not allow the contract to stand. Another factor which occasionally arises is the legality of the contract. Naturally the courts will not enforce agreements which in some substantial way infringe the law. Sometimes this occurs because Parliament specifically by legislation makes certain kinds of agreement unlawful, or it can happen because the judges decide that, as a mater of public policy, they will not give effect to certain kinds of agreement. A well-known class of contract falling within this latter category is a contract which is said to be «tainted with immorality». If the contract is found to be unlawful the court will not enforce it.