3. Read the text and find the information so that you could answer the questions:

1. What types of courts do you know?

2. What basic distinctions must be made between civil and criminal courts?

3. What is the difference between courts of general jurisdiction and those of limited jurisdiction?

4. What do criminal courts deal with?

5. What do civil courts deal with?

6. Who represents prosecution?

7. What are the most common sentences in civil courts?

8. What is federal system?

9. What court is at the top of the federal system?

10. What appellate reviews do you know?

11. What courts are the courts of the first instance?

Civil Courts

Civil courts deal with «private» controversies, as where two individuals (or corporations) are in dispute over the terms of a contract or over who shall bear responsibility for an auto accident.

The objective of a civil actions is not punishment or correction of the defendant or the setting of an example to others but rather to restore the parties so far as possible to the positions they would have occupied had no legal wrong been committed. The most common civil remedy is a judgement (може бути: рішення суду, вирок) for money damages.

There are, however, areas of overlap (збіг, перекриття), for a single incident may give rise to both civil liability and criminal prosecution. Two separate actions must be brought, independent of each other.

Courts of General Jurisdiction

Although there are some courts that handle only criminal cases and others that handle only civil cases, a more common pattern is for a single court to be vested with both civil and criminal jurisdiction. Such is the High Court of England and such are many of the trial courts in U.S. states. Often these tribunals (суд, трибунал) are called courts of general jurisdiction, signifying that they can deal with almost any type of controversy, although in fact they not have jurisdiction over certain types of cases assigned to specialized tribunals.

Courts of Limited Jurisdiction

Specialized tribunals of many kinds exist, varying from nation to nation. Some deal only with the administration of the estates of deceased (померлий) persons (probate courts), some only with disputes between merchants (commercial courts), some only with disputed between employers and employees (labour courts). All are courts of limited jurisdiction.

Appellate Courts

The tribunals described thus far are trial courts or «courts of first instance». They see the parties, hear the witnesses, receive the evidence, find the facts, apply the law, and determine the outcome.

Above them, to review their work and correct their errors, are appellate courts. These are usually collegiate bodies, consisting of several judges instead of the single judge who usually presides over a trial court. The jurisdiction of the appellate courts is usually general.