The system of general jurisdiction courts includes the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, regional level courts, district level courts and justices of the peace
The court structure
Judicial system of the Russian Federation
The Russian judicial system consists of the Constitutional Court, courts of general jurisdiction, military courts, and arbitrage courts (which hear commercial disputes). The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation arbitrates disputes between the executive and legislative branches and between Moscow and the regional and local governments. The court also is authorized to rule on violations of constitutional rights, to examine appeals from various bodies, and to participate in impeachment proceedings against the president.
The system of general jurisdiction courts includes the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, regional level courts, district level courts and justices of the peace.
The judicial system of the Russian Federation consists of:
· The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and constitutional courts of the republics and other subjects of the Russian Federation.
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation considers cases relating to the compliance of the federal laws, normative acts of the President of the Russian Federation, the Council of the Federation, the State Duma, the Government of the Russian Federation, constitutions of republics, charters and other normative acts of the subjects of Russian Federation with the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 125 of the Constitution);
▪ four-tiered system of courts of general jurisdiction. Three-tiered system of the military courts is an integral part of it . The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is the supreme judicial body of this branch ;
The system of general jurisdiction courts has the following structure:
· The first tier comprises all general jurisdiction rayon (district) courts -city, intermunicipal and equal to them - acting on the territory of Russia.
· Middle tier of general jurisdiction courts includes the supreme courts of the republics, kray ( regional) , oblast (provincial) courts, city courts of Moscow and St.-Petersburg, courts of autonomous provinces and autonomous districts.
· The main tier of military courts are the military courts of armies, fleets, garrisons and military formations. The middle tier of military courts consists of military courts of the branches of the Armed Forces, military districts, districts of antiaircraft defence, navy and separate armies.
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· three-level system of arbitration courts with the Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation as a supreme judicial body competent to settle economic disputes and other cases considered by arbitration courts, exercise judicial supervision over their activities according to the federal law-envisaged procedural forms . The system of the arbitration courts comprises: arbitration courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation; courts of arbitration districts (10) and the Higher Arbitration Court.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is the supreme judicial body for all courts of general jurisdiction, both civil and military.
Rayon courts form the basis of the system of general jurisdiction courts of the Russian Federation.
The law attributes to the jurisdiction of rayon courts all civil cases, overwhelming majority of criminal cases and cases relating to administrative offences.
Rayon courts act as a higher judicial instance for the Justices of the Peace operating on the territory of the appropriate judicial district.
Justices of the Peace are judges of the subjects of the Russian Federation and form an integral part of the system of courts of general jurisdiction.
The law entrusts the Justices of the Peace with functions and duties equal for all the judges of Russia: to exercise justice observing precisely and strictly the requirements of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, generally recognized rules , norms and principles of the international law and international agreements concluded or joined by the Russian Federation.
The Justices of the Peace are included into the structure of general jurisdiction courts and participate in the work of its bodies.
Courts of general jurisdiction: of kray , oblast, city, of autonomous oblast and autonomous districts act as higher instance courts for rayon courts.
The courts of this tier of the judicial system are empowered to carry out all the powers of a judicial instance, namely to examine cases as a first instance court in the order of cassation, by way of supervision and upon newly discovered evidence. They work in the following composition: presidium of the court, judicial panel for civil cases and judicial panel for criminal cases.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is the supreme judicial body for civil, criminal, administrative and other cases under the jurisdiction of courts of general jurisdiction, carries out judicial supervision over their activities according to the federal law-envisaged procedural forms and provides clarifications on the issues of court proceedings (Article 126 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). It heads the judicial system of general jurisdiction, representing a supreme tier of this system.
The Supreme Court of Russian Federation has the right of the legislative initiative. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation acts as a court of first instance for cases of special importance or special public interest when it accepts them for consideration according to the legislation. The law determines a category of cases which are included in the sphere of activities of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as a court of first instance .
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is a cassation instance in relation to the federal courts of general jurisdiction of republics or oblast.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation supervises legality, validity and substantiality of sentences and other decisions of courts of lower level.
Court system in the United States
The U.S. court system is divided into two administratively separate systems, the federal and the state, each of which is independent of the executive and legislative branches of government.
The Federal Court System.
At the bottom are the federal district courts, which have original jurisdiction in most cases of federal law. Made up of 92 districts, the federal district court system has at least one bench in each of the 50 states.
There are from 1 to more than 20 judges in each district, and, as with most federal jurists, district court judges are appointed by the President and serve for life. Cases handled by the federal district courts include those relating to alleged violations of the Constitution or other federal laws, maritime disputes, cases directly involving a state or the federal government, and cases in which foreign governments, citizens of foreign countries, or citizens of two or more different states are involved.
Directly above the district courts are the United States courts of appeals, each superior to one or more district courts. There are from 6 to 27 judges in each circuit. In addition to hearing appeals from their respective district courts, the courts of appeals have original jurisdiction in cases involving a challenge to an order of a federal regulatory agency, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The highest court in the federal system is the Supreme Court of the United States, the only federal court explicitly mandated by the Constitution. The Supreme Court sits in Washington, D.C., and has final jurisdiction on all cases that it hears. The high court may review decisions made by the U.S. courts of appeals, and it may also choose to hear appeals from state appellate courts if a constitutional or other federal issue is involved. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in a limited number of cases, including those that involve high-ranking diplomats of other nations or those between two U.S. states.
State Court Systems
The lowest level of state courts, often known generically as the inferior courts, may include any of the following: magistrate court, municipal court, justice of the peace court, police court, traffic court, and county court. Such tribunals, often quite informal, handle only minor civil and criminal cases. More serious offenses are heard in superior court, also known as state district court, circuit court, and by a variety of other names. The superior courts, usually organized by counties, hear appeals from the inferior courts and have original jurisdiction over major civil suits and serious crimes such as grand larceny. It is here that most of the nation's jury trials occur. The highest state court, usually called the appellate court, state court of appeals, or state supreme court, generally hears appeals from the state superior courts and, in some instances, has original jurisdiction over particularly important cases. A number of the larger states, such as New York, also have intermediate appellate courts between the superior courts and the state's highest court. Additionally, a state may have any of a wide variety of special tribunals, usually on the inferior court level, including juvenile court, divorce court, probate court, family court, housing court, and small-claims court. In all, there are more than 1,000 state courts of various types, and their judges, who may be either appointed or elected, handle the overwhelming majority of trials held in the United States each year.
Courts of England and Wales
Her Majesty's Courts of Justice of England and Wales are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales; they apply English law, the law of England and Wales, and are established under Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom does not have a single unified legal system—England and Wales have one system, Scotland another, and Northern Ireland a third. There are exceptions to this rule; for example in immigration law, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal's jurisdiction covers the whole of the United Kingdom, while in employment law there is a single system of Employment Tribunals for England, Wales, and Scotland (but not Northern Ireland).
The Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Crown Court, the Magistrates' Courts, and the County Courts are administered by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice.