- •Introduction to Law Russian Federation
- •1 Look at the pictures. Can you name any of the events, people or the buildings? Match them to the pictures.
- •2 Scan the abstract and explain the term “Law”. What is “Law”?
- •3 Read the quotes of famous philosophers and jurists explaining the term “Law” and choose the one you like best. Compare with a partner. Give reasons.
- •4 Find you own definition of law.
- •1 Read the text and tick the issues it addresses.
- •The Nature of Law
- •Active vocabulary
- •1 Read the text and do the activities after it. The Federal Assembly and the Government
- •Active vocabulary
- •2 Mark the following statements as true (t) / or false (f).
- •3 Match the words (1-8) with their definitions (a-h).
- •5 Speak about the Federal Assembly and the Government following the chart above.
- •1 Circle the word that doesn’t collocate with the underlined word.
- •2 Match these common prefixes (1-6) with their common meanings (a-f) and illustrate them by your own examples.
- •3 Find pairs of words from these two lists.
- •4 Read the definitions of the political systems and fill in the gaps.
- •5 Fill each gap with the correct preposition, then translate the phrasal verbs into Russian.
- •6 Underline the correct word in each of the sentences below. Are there similar idioms in your language?
- •7 A) Read the text and put the duties of the President in the correct columns of the table. Consult a dictionary if it is necessary.
- •Political parties of the Russian Federation
- •Active vocabulary
- •United Kingdom
- •1 Match political people and places.
- •1 Before reading the text about British Crown answer the following questions:
- •The crown
- •Active Vocabulary
- •Did you know?
- •Vocabulary Practice
- •2 Match the underlined words in the text with their synonyms below.
- •3 From the list below match the verbs to the right definitions:
- •4 Answer the following questions. Base your answers on the information in the text.
- •5 Make up the presentation “The British monarchy: the past and the present” using visual aids (approximately 10-15 slides) in accordance with the following plan:
- •1 The British parliament is one of the oldest parliamentary systems in the world! Let’s investigate the idea of parliament.
- •Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
- •Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics
- •Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture
- •2 Read the text and do the activities after it. Parliament
- •Active vocabulary
- •3 Give definitions of the following words and word combinations; illustrate their meaning in the sentences of your own (macmillanonline.Com):
- •4 Answer the following questions. Base your answers on the information in the text.
- •The House of Lords is back at work next week: some say it should never work again
- •The United States
- •1 Match the presidents of the us and important facts of their political life.
- •1 Read the text and do the activities after it. Congress and the Government of the usa
- •Active vocabulary
- •2 Complete these sentences with the correct numbers.
- •3 Read the following statements and mark them as true or false. If it is necessary, correct the statements.
- •1 Read the text. The President of the usa
- •Active vocabulary
- •2 Read the following statements and mark them as true or false. If it is necessary, correct the statements.
- •4 A) Watch this video where the American system of checks and balances is explained. Complete these sentences. Checks and Balances in the us Government
- •Vote for us!
Active vocabulary
Roman occupation – римская оккупация
Code of Hammurabi – кодекс Хаммурапи
to evolve into – развиться
emerge – появляться
to affect – затрагивать, касаться
criminal law – уголовное право
taxation – налогообложение
property rights – права собственности
to intervene in - вмешиваться
to enforce – придавать законную силу
public laws – общественное право
civil laws – гражданское право
implementation of justice – осуществление правосудия
crime rates – уровень преступности
maintain – поддерживать, сохранять
Reading 2
1 Read the text and do the activities after it. The Federal Assembly and the Government
Russia is a democratic federative law-governed state with a republican form of government. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation (1993), The Federal Assembly (the Parliament) is the legislative body of the Russian Federation, It consists of two chambers: the State Duma is the lower house and the Federation Council is the upper house.
The Federal Assembly is a permanently functioning body. The Federation Council and the State Duma sit separately. Their sessions are open, but they have the right to conduct closed sessions. Each chamber forms committees which hold appropriate hearings.
Federal laws adopted by the State Duma on the following issues must be examined by the Federation Council:
the federal budget, federal taxes;
financial, currency and customs regulation, money emission;
the status and protection of the state border of the Russian Federation;
war and peace.
The Federation Council is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia. Each of the 83 federal subjects (constituent entities) of Russia – consisting of 21 republics, 46 oblasts, nine krais, two federal cities, four autonomous okrugs, and one autonomous oblast – sends two senators to the Council. The total membership is 166 councilors. The Chairwoman of the Federation Council is Valentina Matviyenko (2013).
This legislative body approves decisions on changes of borders between constituent entities and sanctions the introduction of martial law and a state of emergency. It appoints and dismisses the Prosecutor General and judges of the supreme body of the judicial branch. Additionally, the Federation Council has the right of final decision on the impeachment of the President and the announcement of new elections of the President.
The State Duma consists of 450 deputies and has special powers enumerated by the Constitution of Russia. The President appoints the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation with the consent of the State Duma. The State Duma has the right to bring charges against the President of the Russian Federation for his impeachment. All bills are first approved by the State Duma and are further debated and approved (or rejected) by the Federation Council. Currently Sergey Naryshkin is a speaker of the Russian State Duma.
The Executive power is exercised by the government which consists of the Chairman of the Government (the Prime Minister), deputy chairmen and the federal ministers. The 1993 Constitution created a dual executive branch consisting of a president and prime minister, but the president is the dominant figure. The citizens of the country are entitled to voting at 18 years old. Direct Presidential election is held every 6 years from 2012.
The Chairman's candidate is appointed by the President with the consent of the State Duma. If the selected candidate is rejected three times, the President appoints the Prime Minister himself, dissolves the State Duma and announces new elections.
The prime minister carries out administration in line with the constitution and laws and presidential decrees. The ministries of the Government:
execute monetary policy;
deal with defense, foreign policy, and state security functions;
ensure the rule of law and respect for human and civil rights;
protect property and combat crimes.
The judicial power is provided by appropriate judicial system and by civil, administrative and criminal legislation. The president presents to the Federation Council candidates for the posts of the Constitutional and Supreme Court justices, Supreme Arbitrage Court justices, and a candidate for the post of Prosecutor General.