Court systems in the English-speaking countries
1. Court is a person or body of persons having judicial authority to hear and determine disputes in particular cases: civil, criminal or military. Court is also a large room in a building where trials and other legal cases happen. 2. English courts are divided by certain features. The first distinction is between courts trying criminal cases and courts trying civil cases. The second distinction is made between the courts of first instance and the superior courts. In the courts of first instance or inferior courts the first hearing of any judicial proceeding takes place. In the superior courts or courts of appeal the judgement of the first courts are brought under review. The court of appeal is the main appeal court, whose decision may be reviewed by the House of Lords on important points of law. 3. The legal system also includes juvenile courts which deal with offenders under seventeen, and coroner’s courts* which investigate violent, sudden or unnatural deaths*. There are administrative tribunals, which make quick, cheap and fair decisions with much less formality. Tribunals deal with professional standards, disputes between individuals, and disputes between individuals and government departments. 4. The American court system is complex. It functions as part of the federal system of government, which divides powers between the national government and the state government. In accordance with the federal principles of government, federal courts have exclusive authority over violations of federal criminal law, and state courts have the exlusive right to try persons accused of breaking state laws. Each state runs its own court system, and no two are identical. The federal courts coexist with the state courts. Individuals fall under the jurisdiction of two different court systems, their state courts and federal courts. The vast majority of cases are resolved in the state courts. 5. The federal courts are organised into three tiers, like a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid there are the U.S. district courts, where litigation begins. In the middle there are the U.S. courts of appeals. Their primary function is to make sure that the trial court has correctly interpreted and applied the law. They review cases that have been decided in lower courts. Most federal courts hear and decide a wide array of cases. The judges in these courts are known as generalists*. 6. At the top of the US Court system there is the Supreme Court the highest court in the nation. It is composed of nine justices: eight Associate Justices and one Chief Justice, who are appointed by the President for life and confirmed by the Senate. The Chief Justice presides over the Court’s public sessions and private conferences, assigns justices to write opinions, and supervises the entire federal judiciary. The Court hears appeals from both U.S. circuit courts of appeals and state appellate courts of last resort*. Notes:
Task 3. Find suitable places in Text B for the passages below.
1. One of the features of court system is the sources of law which include written law (statutes) and unwritten law (Common law and Equity). They are based on judicial precedent. 2. To complicate the system further, state constitutions establish local forms of government, such as counties, cities and districts. These local governments are empowered to create their own courts of limited jurisdiction. 3. The district courts are courts of original jurisdiction. In these courts most violations of federal criminal and civil law are first adjudicated and decisions of fact are made. Today, there are about 95 district courts with at least one court in each state (New York, California and Texas have four), one is in the District Columbia and four are in the United States territories.
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