Sources of law

Unit

COURT SYSTEM OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Section 1 Sources of Law

Pre-reading tasks.

Ex. 1 Answer the following questions using your background knowledge:

What sources of law do you know?

What do you think is the primary source of law in Russia?

Ex. 2 Read and guess the meaning of the following word-combinations: legislative instrument, legal system, principle of superiority, legal source, executive agencies, Governmental regulations, constituent components, legislative power, constitutional amendments.

Ex. 3 Match the words and the word-combinations from the text with their Russian equivalents:

Reading tasks

EX. 4 Skim the text and divide it into the logical parts. Entitle them.

Sources of law

Historically, Russia belongs to the continental legal system, and a written law,which was passed under the established legislative procedure, is the main legal source. About 10,000 laws, regulations, and other legal acts are passed in Russia annually.

The Constitution is the supreme Russian law and major legislative instrument. It establishes the principle of superiority of law in the system of legal sources. The law cannot contradict the Constitution. All other legal acts, such as decrees of the President, Governmental regulations, acts of Ministries and other federal executive agencies, as well as legislation passed by the constituent components of the Russian Federation cannot contradict laws. All laws are passed exclusively by the Federal Assembly (legislature). Delegation of the legislative power is prohibited.

Federal Constitutional Laws establish the group of most important legislative acts. They are passed in regards to the jurisdiction encompassed by the authority of the Russian Federation only. The federal constitutional law is adopted if it has been approved by at least three-quarters of the total number of the Federation Council members and by at least two-thirds of the total number of the State Duma members. The president of Russia cannot veto federal constitutional laws. The list of federal constitutional laws is prescribed by the Constitution. It includes laws on the state of emergency, the change of the status of a constituent component of the federation, on constitutional amendments, on government, on referendum, on the judiciary, on the Constitutional Court, and some other.

Federal laws constitute the second category of legal sources. They regulate issues included into executive authority of the Russian Federation and its components. The Constitution protects priority and direct effect of federal laws throughout the territory of Russia. In case of a conflict between federal law and another act issued in Russia, the law will prevail.

Ex. 5 Read the text in details and answer the following questions:

1. What is the main legal source in Russia?

2. How many laws and by-laws are passed in Russia annually?

3. What is the major legislative instrument?

4. Can the President of RF veto the federal constitutional laws?

5. When is the federal constitutional law adopted?

6. What is included in the list of federal constitutional laws?

7. What issues are regulated by federal laws?

8. What does the Constitution protect?

Ex. 6 Read and translate the following derivatives from the word “law”:

law, lawfulness, unlawful, law-abiding, law-maker, law-breaker.

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