Supplementary reading. Sources and hierarchy of lawthe constitution. The constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land; it provides the basis

SOURCES AND HIERARCHY OF LAW The Constitution. The Constitution of the United States is the "supreme law of the land;" it provides the basis for the U.S. government, and guarantees the freedom and rights of all U.S. citizens. No laws may contradict any of the Constitution's principles and no governmental authority in the U.S. is exempt from complying with it. The federal courts have the sole authority to interpret the Constitution and to evaluate the federal constitutionality of federal or state laws. International Treaties. Treaties made by the United States are the Supreme law of the land and under the U.S. Constitution, as are federal. In the case of a conflict between a treaty and a federal statute, the one that is later in time or more specific will typically control. Treaties to which the United States is a party may be found in the U.S. Treaties Service, the Statutes at Large, the Treaties and other International Acts Series issued by the State Department, and the United Nations Treaty Series. Treaties are often implemented by federal statutes. Federal Statutes. Federal Statutes are published first in Slip Law, then in the Statutes at Large and subsequently in the United States Code. An example of a cite to a federal statute is: 42 U.S.C. sec. 9607, which would refer to title 42, section 9607 of the U.S. Code. Federal statutes may bechallenged in federal court. Agency Rules and Executive Orders. Federal administrative bodies issue rules and regulations of a quasi-legislative character; valid federal regulations have the force of law and preempt state laws and rules. Rules and regulations may only be issued under statutory authority granted by Congress. The President also has broad powers to issue executive orders. An executive order is a directive from the President to other officials in the executive branch. Proposed and final rules, executive orders and other executive branch notices are published daily in the Federal Register. No person may be subject to any rule required to be published in the Federal Register and not so published. 5 U.S.C. sec. 552(a)(1).Every federal agency must publish: descriptions of its organizational structure; general statements of how the agency functions; its rules of procedures, available forms and descriptions of all papers, final reports or examinations; and all substantive rules or statements of general applicability adopted by the agency. Rules may be challenged in federal court.The federal courts have sole authority to review agency rules and actions to ensure they are legal under the substantive federal statute. An official citation to the Federal Register includes the volume, page number and year, for example: 43 Fed. Reg. 11,110 (1978). Final administrative rules are published first in the Federal Register and then in the Code of Federal Regulation; an example of an official citation to the Code is 40 C.F.R. pt. 260, which refers to title 40, part 260 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Judicial Opinions. The United States is a common law country. Every U.S. state has a legal system based on the common law, except Louisiana (which relies on the French civil code). Common law has no statutory basis; judges establish common law by applying previous decisions (precedents) to present cases. Although typically affected by statutory authority, broad areas of the law, most notably relating to property, contracts, and torts are traditionally part of the common law. These areas of the law are mostly within the jurisdiction of the states, and thus state courts are the primary source of common law. Federal common law is relatively narrow in scope; primarily limited to clearly federal issues that have not been addressed by a statute. Reported decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and of most of the state appellate courts can be found in the official reporter of the respective courts. Those decided from at least 1887 to date can also be found in the National Reporter System, a system of unofficial reporters.Decisions of lower state courts are not published officially but can usually be found in unofficial reports. When referring to a case, a citation typically includes the name of the case and the volume and pages of the reporter, as well as the date for example, Kleppe v. NewMexico, 426 U.S. 529 (1976). Citations to federal courts of appeals are found in volumes abbreviated F., F.2d, or F.3d, and district courts are in volumes abbreviated F. Supp. The decisions of other specialized federal courts such as Claims of bankruptcy decisions are also reported.The system for citing state cases is similar. A correct citation would be Wagen v. Ford Motor Co., 97 Wis. 2d 260, 294 N.W. 2d 437 (1980), meaning the case was decided in 1980, is found on page 260 of volume 97 of the second series of Wisconsin State Reporters (the official reporter), as well as page 437 of volume 294 of the second Northwestern set of the National Reporter System. State Constitutions and Statutes. State constitutions are the supreme law within the state. State statutes must conform to the respective state's constitution. All state constitutions and legislation can be preempted by federal legislation or the federal Constitution. See Section 1.1.3: National-Subnational Relations. Municipal charters, ordinances, rules, and regulations apply only to local issues; they typically can be preempted by either state or federal law. Citation. To ensure uniformity in citation styles for all law-related publications or writings, most citation to legal sources in the United States follows the Uniform System of Citation, also known as the Bluebook. The Bluebook is updated every few years by a consortium of law schools. Among other things, the Bluebook provides the abbreviations for all state and federal courts, statutory compilations, and administrative rules. ROLE OF THE EXECUTIVE IN THE LAW-MAKING PROCESS The U.S. Executive Branch is responsible for implementing most laws passed by the Congress. Agencies in the executive branch issue rules, make adjudications and provide other opinions and guidelines in an effort to implement the laws. The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) governs these activities.

The President also has the power to issue executive orders. Executive orders are Presidential directives governing actions by other federal officials and agencies. The President's authority over the executive branch is limited only by the Constitution and federal statutes.

THE JUDICIAL BRANCH OF THE USA  

Warming-up:

3. What do you know about the System of Courts in the USA?

4. Would you like to work as a lawyer in the US Court System? Why?

5. Do you know what the highest court in the US Judicial System is? And where is it situated?

Vocabulary notes:

to be vested (in)	бути наділеним
a Chief Justice	головний суддя
associate justice	члени суду
an original jurisdiction	юрисдикція суду першої інстанції
to be subject to exceptions and regulations	підлягати під виняток та зміни
to alter the Constitution	змінити конституцію
to interpret the Constitution	тлумачити конституцію
the district courts	місцеві суди, федеральні районні суди
a circuit court of appeals	окружний апеляційний суд (федеральний суд другої інстанції)
the Federal courts	федеральні суди
the regulating agencies	регулятивні органи
disputed questions of law	суперечливі питання права
to state the law	встановлювати право
to settle routine cases	вирішувати звичайні справи
to hold trials	проводити судові процеси
to call witnesses	викликати свідків
an admiralty law	морське право
bankruptcy proceedings	процедура банкрутства
postal laws	закони пошти
the three-layer court system	трирівнева федеральна судова система
the Court of Claims	суд претензій
the Tax Court	податковий суд
the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals	апеляційний суд у справах про митний збір та патенти
court of small claims	суди позовних вимог на невелику суму
inherited and adapted by court decisions	успадкована та пристосована судовими рішеннями
restitution	поновлення у правах

Дата добавления: 2014-12-17