Text A. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTS

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1. At the national level, the district courts are trial courts of original jurisdiction. There is at least one U.S.district court in each state. No district court crosses state lines, but some states have more than one court; California, New York, and Texas, for instance, each have four. Altogether there are ninety-four district courts-eighty-nine within the fifty states, one in the District of Columbia, and four in the U.S. territories (which may also have jurisdiction over local as well as federal matters). The number of judges in each district ranges from two in sparsely populated Wyoming to twenty-seven in densely inhabited Manhattan (formally known as the Southern District of New York). Because district courts often encompass large geographic areas, some hear cases in various locations, termeddivisions. While some districts hold court in only one division, others have as many as eight.

2. The district courts are staffed by 576 district court judges, who are nominated by the president, confirmed by the Senate, and appointed for life. District court judges possess full judicial powers, including conducting trials, accepting guilty pleas, and imposing sentences. In addition, there are 286 full-time and 183 part-time U.S. magistrates. Created by Congress in 1969 to replace the former position of U.S. commissioner (who had very limited powers), U.S. magistrates are empowered to hear petty and some minor offenses, as well as to conduct the preliminary stages of felony cases and numerous civil matters. Unlike district court judges, U.S. magistrates are not presidential appointees and do not have lifetime tenure. Rather, they are appointed by the district court judges for either eight years (full-time magistrates) or four years (part-time magistrates).

3. The district courts have original jurisdiction over both civil and criminal cases, so they are trial courts for all violations of the federal criminal law other than those tried by U.S. magistrates. For several decades, the number of federal criminal prosecutions (primarily for drug violations, embezzlement, and fraud) remained fairly constant, but from 1980 to 1987 they increased by 74 percent. Persons charged with drug offenses accounted for much of this increase. Indeed, prosecutions for drugs were up 153 percent, and convictions increased by 161 percent. Nonetheless, civil lawsuits consume more of the federal courts` time than do criminal cases. Although federal district courts handle far fewer cases than state trial courts, civil cases in federal courts often raise more complex legal issues than those in state courts, and the amount of money in controversy is also often quite a bit larger.

Text B. UNITED STATES COURTS OF APPEALS

1. Created in 1891 to relieve the U.S. Supreme Court of hearing the growing number of appeals, the U.S. courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the federal system. Eleven of the circuits are identified by number and are organized regionally. The twelfth circuit has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia.

2. The courts of appeals are staffed by 156 judges, who are nominated by the president, confirmed by the Senate, and (like other Article III judges) enjoy lifetime tenure. As with the district courts, the number of circuit court judges varies, depending somewhat on the population and volume of cases. The number of judges authorized for each circuit ranges from six (the First Circuit) to twenty-eight (the Ninth Circuit). The chief judge (the most senior judge in terms of service, under seventy years of age) of each circuit has supervisory responsibilities for the circuit.

3. The courts of appeals have jurisdiction to review the final decisions of the district court, as well as the power to act on certain legal issues that arise while a lawsuit is going on (called interlocutory appeals). In addition, the circuit courts hear appeals from a host of quasi-judicial tribunals such as the National Labor Relations Board.

4. In a typical year, approximately 40, 000 cases are filed in the courts of appeals. As is true in the district courts, the volume of cases in the circuit courts has grown steadily since the early 1960s, tripling each decade. This growth has not been uniform, however. Criminal appeals shot up dramatically from 1963 to 1973 but have since leveled off. Thus, the largest recent increase has been in civil appeals.

5. The circuit courts normally utilize three-judge panels in deciding cases, which produces some differences in legal interpretation from panel to panel. In controversial cases, though, all the judges may sit together to decide the case. Such en banc hearings are rare, however; in a typical year, there are no more than a hundred in the entire nation. A decision by the circuit court exhausts the litigant’s right to one appeal. A dissatisfied party may request the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, but such requests are rarely granted.

Text C. THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT

The highest court in the nation is the U.S. Supreme Court. It is composed of nine justices: eight associate justices and one chief justice (who is nominated specifically to that post by the president). Besides presiding over the Court’s public sessions, the chief justice conducts the Court’s conferences, assigns justices to write opinions (when the chief justice votes in the majority), and has supervisory power over the entire federal judiciary. Like other judges appointed under Article III of the Constitution, the justices of the supreme Court are nominated by the president, require confirmation by the Senate, and serve for life.

5. Выпишите из текстов эквиваленты следующих слов и выражений: федеральный районный суд; вести судебный процесс; заявление подсудимого о признании вины; установить наказание, уполномочивать; нарушение уголовного права; уголовное преследование; обвинить в преступлении связанном с наркотиками; пересмотреть решение суда; главный судья верховного суда.

6. Выпишите из текста 2 предложения, содержащие сказуемое в активном залоге. Подчеркните сказуемое и определите его видовременную форму. Измените предложения таким образом, чтобы сказуемое имело все возможные грамматические формы.

7. Выпишите из текста 2 предложения, содержащие сказуемое в пассивном залоге. Подчеркните сказуемое и определите его видовременную форму. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

8. Составьте резюме, используя образец стр. 27.

КОНТРОЛЬНАЯ РАБОТА №2

Вариант 1

Выполните следующие задания:

Прочтите текст.

Text A. RUNING A BUSINESS

1. Every year there is an increase in the number of laws, lawyers, and legal cases in the courts. To a large extent, this increase is due to the economic growth in the world; more business means more transactions, more possibilities for conflict and confusion, and, consequently more legal activity to regulate business. If you set up a business, even a very small one, you will buying and selling products and services, and perhaps, employing people, buying or renting land, and borrowing money. In order to engage in all of these activities, you need to have some knowledge of basic legal principles such as contract, tort, and land law. And you will need to know about any laws specifically relevant to your kind of business, such as statutes regulating companies. If you do not run your business honestly you may also need a knowledge of criminal law! In 1991, a series of Japanese companies faced fines or suspension of activities for making illegal payments to certain clients. Imelda Marcos has been charged both in Manila and in the United States with improperly handling millions of dollars while her husband was President of the Philippines.

2. Nearly every general area of the law is relevant to running a business, and nearly every country has its own set of laws designed specifically to regulate business. The attempts of the European Community to create a single market by 1993 show just how difficult it can be to harmonize business laws. We will try to make some sense of this complex area of the law by taking English law as a model and making some international comparisons. Throughout the world, most businesses face similar problems; they must determine their organizational form; duties to clients; investors and employees; tax liabilities; and ability to minimize losses if the business fails.

Unlike many legal systems, English law has never developed a Comprehensive code of company law. Instead, the relevant law is found partly in cases decided according to the principles of common law and equity and partly in statutes. Between 1985 and 1986, a series of statutes was passed to consolidate many previous statutes. The most important of these was the 1985 Companies Act.

Text B. INTERNAL MANAGEMENT

1. The internal management of the company is regulated by a document called the articles of association. Although these need not be registered (except for companies limited by guarantee), they must conform to an authorized pattern. They detail rules about such matters as when and at what notice meetings must be held; members' voting rights, and the size of majority required to pass resolutions; issuing of shares; and the appointment, powers, and removal of directors. Under the Companies Act every public company must have at least two directors, and every private company, at least one. A director need not be a member (that is, a shareholder), but details of any shares he holds must be registered. He is not an employee of the company, but may be paid for his work as long as the members of the company agree to this. He has a duty to exercise a reasonable standard of care and not to make secret profits from company business. If he holds an interest in another firm with which the company is doing business, the law requires him to declare that interest at a board meeting (meeting of the directors).

1. The law also requires a limited company to keep accounting records at its registered office, including entries of receipts and payments and a record of assets and liabilities. These records must be open to inspection at any time by the company's directors and secretary, and a copy must be sent to the registrar each year. A profit and loss account, together with a financial report by the directors and a report from an independent auditor (inspector), must be put before a general meeting of the company's members every year. Breaking these regulations may result in criminal prosecution.

3. Another possible cause of criminal prosecution is insider trading. This means using inside knowledge to gain private profit when buying and selling company shares. Directors and employees of companies are often in a position to know if a company's shares are likely to rise or fall long before ordinary shareholders. As a result, they could make profits by buying or selling before everybody else, or by selling their special information. In 1990, a New York stockbroker was imprisoned for this offence. The crime was not even recognized in English law until 1967. The 1985 Company Securities (Insider Dealing) Act lays down a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment, but the recent discovery of how widespread this practice is means the penalty is likely to be increased as a deterrent.

2. Выпишите из текстов английские эквиваленты следующих слов и выражений: мировой рост экономики; правовая практика регулирования деловых отношений; обладать знаниями об основных правовых принципах; законы, непосредственно касающиеся вашего бизнеса; штрафы или приостановление деятельности; судебные решения, вынесенные на основе принципов общего права; внутреннее управление компании; устав организации; право голоса, распространяющееся на членов компании; получать тайный доход от бизнеса компании; закон требует; заявлять о собственных интересах на общем собрании директоров; составлять бухгалтерские отчеты в письменной форме; опись имущества; нарушение правил; уголовное преследование.

3. Найдите и выпишите из текста A 3 предложения, содержащие инфинитив. Определите формы и функции инфинитива. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

4. Найдите и выпишите из текста B 3 предложения, содержащие причастие. Определите формы и функции причастия. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

5. Найдите и выпишите из текстов A и B 3 предложения, содержащие герундий. Определите формы и функции герундия. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

6. Переведите письменно 2 абзац текста A и 1 абзац текста В.

7. Напишите аннотацию к тексту, используя следующие клишированные словосочетания (3-5 предложений): the precis deals with …; the abstract is devoted to …; the work is concerned with … (bears on …, gives explanation of …, is intended to demonstrate certain phenomena, is designed to provide some information about …); the subject of the paper under review is …; the author touches upon the problem of …; … is (are) described; special attention is given (paid) to …; the chief aim (main purpose) of the work is …; the main result of the work is … (that it has given a clue to …).

8. Составьте свое жизнеописание (C.V.), используя образец на стр. 29.

КОНТРОЛЬНАЯ РАБОТА №2

Вариант 2

Выполните следующие задания:

Прочтите тексты.

Text A. EMPLOYMENT LAW

1. Like consumer law, employment law is a very large topic in which the principles of tort and contract have been greatly added to by specific legislation. The history of employment law really begins with the industrialization of Western countries in the 19th century. Before industrialization most people worked on the land or in some craft connected with agriculture. They tended to work for the same employer in the same place most of their life. Employment rights depended upon paternalistic employers and informal agreements. Many employees were in a very weak position because part of their wages was paid in the form of food and accommodation. Although there were peasant movements which succeeded in improving conditions—over 1, 000 of them in Tokugawa Japan, for example—few of them led to legislation or outlasted the protest in question.

2. Industrialization brought large numbers of workers together in the same workplace. Recognizing their strength in times of economic expansion and their weakness during depressions, they began to organize themselves more systematically than farm workers. In response, governments began to see a need for legislation in order to standardize rights and conditions. Laws were passed to recognize and also limit the right of workers to strike. Other legislation dealt with health and safety in the workplace, and limits upon working hours and ages. Toward the end of the century, Germany and other countries developed systems of insurance to protect workers during sickness, unemployment and retirement.

3. The 20th century has seen a great increase in the detail of such legislation. Although employees' rights seem to have expanded during labor shortages (as in present-day Japan) and contracted in times of unemployment, there has been a steady increase in the areas of employment that the law has come to regulate. Most of the richer countries now have legislation which guarantees a minimum wage for all workers; prevents employees from being dismissed without some reason, period of advance notice, or compensation; and requires employers to give their employees a written statement of the main term of their employment contract. In the last twenty years, many countries have also passed laws to ensure that men and women are given equal opportunities to do the same work in the same conditions.

Text B. EC employment law

1. EC (European Community) law sometimes gives better protection to employees than English law. When Ms. Helen Marshall claimed that she should not have been made to retire from her job at age 62 since male employees were allowed to continue until they were 65, she lost her case at an industrial tribunal which argued that EC law did not prevent member countries from having different retirement ages for men and women. But the European Court ruled that although different ages for receiving retirement pension were legal, it was not legal for a member state to force women to retire from work earlier than men.

2. Since there is supposed to be a single labor market in the EC there have been many attempts to harmonize employment rights among member states. One of the many questions still to be agreed on is whether there should be a standard minimum wage. Supporters argue that low-paid workers would be better protected if all employers had to pay a minimum hourly rate. But opponents say that this would put too much pressure on small businesses and discourage them from creating new jobs.

3. Sunday trading is another issue dividing the EC. Although many European countries allow businesses to open every day of the week, the 1950 Shops Act limits Sunday trading in Britain—partly for religious reasons, and partly to ensure that shopworkers get at least one day's holiday a week. But the rules are complicated and out of date. Stores can sell whiskey, for example, but not coffee; magazines but not books; lightbulbs for cars but not for houses. Some fish and chip shops can sell many kinds of takeaway food on Sundays, but not fish and chips. B & Q, a large D-I-Y business, has claimed that the 1950 Act restricts imports from other EC countries and, therefore, breaks Article 30 of the Treaty of Rome.

4. The right to strike was one of the first employment rights to be recognized by law, yet the specific rules have varied from time to time and country to country. Since the 1984 Trade Union Act, all strikes in Britain must be supported by a majority vote of the workers in a secret ballot. Technically, strike action still constitutes a breach of an employee's contract of employment. Indeed in 1976 when Grunwick, a London film-processing firm, dismissed all its striking workers, the workers lost their claim in an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal. However, employers are unlikely to dismiss worker who are all backed by a trade union. When Britain had a high record of strikes in the 1970s, it was sometimes said that there were too many different unions inside each company—one to represent each kind of job. Recently there has been a trend towards adopting single-union agreements whether it is legal for an employer to decide which union a worker is to join.

2. Выпишите из текстов английские эквиваленты следующих слов и выражений: специальная законодательная база; наниматель; неофициальные соглашения; наемный работник; собрать большое количество рабочих на одном рабочем месте; быстрое экономическое развитие; упорядочить права и условия работы; ограничение времени работы и возраста работающего; система страхования на случай болезни, безработицы, увольнения; единый трудовой рынок; оказывать давление на малы бизнес; право на забастовку; признавать законом.

3. Найдите и выпишите из текстов 3 предложения, содержащие инфинитив. Определите формы и функции инфинитива. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

4. Найдите и выпишите из текстов 3 предложения, содержащие причастие. Определите формы и функции причастия. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

5. Найдите и выпишите из текстов 3 предложения, содержащие герундий. Определите формы и функции герундия. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

6. Переведите письменно 1, 2 абзацы текста A, 8 абзац текста B.

8. Составьте свое жизнеописание (C.V.), используя образец на стр. 29.

КОНТРОЛЬНАЯ РАБОТА №2

Вариант 3

Выполните следующие задания:

1. Прочтите тексты.

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