CIVIL PROCEDURE LAW

Procedural law, commonly contrasted with substantive law, is the body of rules governing the court proceedings and the methods of enforcing rights and providing redress of wrongs. Civil procedure involves the principles surrounding the resolution of civil disputes in the courts and the various tools available to the lawyer who must defend or bring a lawsuit. It comprises rules related to jurisdiction, pleading, evidence, appeal, and execution of judgments, representation, costs and other matters. So the purpose of the civil procedure rules is to provide just and effective means by which persons can resolve their disputes.

The Anglo-American judicial system is based on the adversary model that influences the development of particular procedures. As a passive adjudicator of disputes, courts do nothing, neither initiate nor encourage litigation, until one of the parties has called on it through appropriate procedures. The parties control and shape the litigationwhile the judge sits solely to rule on disputed questions, as presented by the parties, and to apply sanctions properly requested by a party. Issuesthat have not been raised and objections that have not been made are commonly waived. The case moves forward only in the response to the demands of the parties and the litigants bear the ultimate responsibility for the case.

Procedural rules create the process that is used to decide the merits of a dispute. At the beginning of the process, these rules explain what a plaintiff must do to start a lawsuit and how a legal claim against a defendant can be asserted. Defendants are similarly told how to raise defences and claims once they have been notified of suit. Procedural rules determine what documents must be prepared, what each of them must contain, and how they should be presented to the court and the defendant. Once the lawsuit has been initiated, procedures govern how the parties discover relevant information and evidence, especially when it is in the possession of one's opponent. Rules also govern the conduct of a trial, enforcement procedures, the conduct of appeals, and the imposition of sanctions on rule violators.

There are several procedural stages but before other issues first of all questions about jurisdiction should be resolved that means to choose a court, which has the authority to determine the merits of a dispute and to grant relief. A court has jurisdiction when it has this power both over the subject-matter of the case and over the persons of the plaintiff and defendant or the property that is in dispute. The main types of jurisdiction are: in personam jurisdiction which permits a court to enter a judgment that is personally binding on the defendant(the court has power over the person, therefore judgment will have full faith and credit in all other states and can be easily enforced) and in rem jurisdiction which permits a court to adjudicate the rights of all claimants to a specific piece of property (the court has jurisdiction over property of the other party, thus a judgment can be entered effecting that property and be binding against the defendant even if the defendant is not in the jurisdiction of the court).

II. COMPREHENSION

1. Scan the text to find legal terms which correspond to the following explanations:

· the party who files a lawsuit

· paperwork and legal documents filed with a court to initiate and respond to a lawsuit

· the party against whom a lawsuit is filed

· parties to a civil dispute

2. Answer the following questions using the information from the text:

1. Do you think it is important for law students to study Civil Procedure? Explain your viewpoint.

2. What is the main objective of the civil procedure rules?

3. What features of the procedure are caused by the adversary nature of the legal proceedings in Anglo-American judicial system?

4. What legal issues are governed by procedural rules on different stages of litigation?

5. What are the main types of civil jurisdiction?

3. Complete the following sentences according to the information from the text:

1. Procedural law is …

2. Civil procedure governs …

3. At the beginning of the process the civil procedure rules explain …

4. If the lawsuit has been initiated, procedures govern …

5. Next stages also governed by the rules are …

6. In personam jurisdiction means that …

7. In rem jurisdiction means that …

4. Explain the following terms and expressions in your own words:

1. procedural law

2. civil dispute

3. litigation

4. jurisdiction

5. plaintiff

6. defendant

III. VOCABULARY STUDY

1. Write out of the text all word combinations with the following words. Translate them and use some of them in your own sentences:

right(s), lawsuit, dispute(s), procedure, litigation, claim(s), defence(s), relief, judgment.

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