Level 3: State Supreme Court

• Appellate Jurisdiction or the court of last resort;
• Appellant and appellee / petitioner and respondent;
• Unless there is a conflict with the U.S. Constitution or federal law, no appeal is possible;
• The state supreme courts are the final arbiters of state law.

The following chart gives an overview of the structure of the federal courts.

Level 1: District Court 1. Made up of trial court of original jurisdiction: ninety-four districts (including the District of Columbia and the territories) 2. One judge and, if desired, a jury 3. Appeal as a matter of right Level 2: U.S. Courts of Appeal 1. Thirteen courts of appellate jurisdiction in the various circuits 2. Bank (also referred to as a panel) of three judges 3. Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court only via petition for writ of certiorari (request to the U.S. Supreme Court for review) Level 3: U.S. Supreme Court 1. Nine judges: nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate; may serve for life. 2. Appellants must petition for writ of certiorari – ask the Court to hear the appeal. 3. Opinions. 4. No appeal is possible. Supreme Court decisions are binding in all jurisdictions in the United States. However, the Supreme Court may overrule its own earlier decisions.

3. Judicial system of Ukraine

The judicial system of Ukraine is outlined in the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine.[1] Before this there was no notion of judicial review nor any Supreme Court since 1991's Ukrainian independence.[2]

Although judicial independence exist in principle, in practise there is little separation of juridical and political powers. Judges are subjected to pressure by political and business interests.[3] Ukraine's court system is widely regarded as corrupt.[4] A Ukrainian Justice Ministry 2009 survey revealed that only 10 percent of respondents trusted the nation’s court system. Less than 30 percent believed that it’s still possible to get a fair trial.[5] Ukrainian politicians and analyst have described the system of justice in Ukraine as "rotten to the core"[5][6] and have complained about political pressure put on judges and corruption.[7][8][9][10][11][12] Ukrainian judges have been arrested while taking bribe.[13]

Court judges maintained a 99.5 percent conviction rate from 2005 till 2008, equal to the conviction rate of the Soviet Union.[5] Suspects are often incarcerated for long periods before trial.

Ukrainian courts enjoy legal, financial and constitutional freedom guaranteed by measures adopted in Ukrainian law in 2010. Although there are still problems with the performance of the system, it is considered to have been much improved since the last juddicial reform introduced in 2002. The Supreme Court is regarded as being an independent and impartial body, and has on several occasions ruled against the Ukrainian government.

The judicial system of Ukraine consists of four levels of courts of general jurisdiction, as follows:[14]

Ukraine has no jury system; most cases are heard by either a single judge or two judges accompanied by assessors.[15] Ukraine has about 8,000 judges.[15] Independent lawyers and human rights activists have complained Ukrainian judges regularly come under pressure to hand down a certain verdict.[15]

Local Courts

Local "general" courts (combining criminal and civil jurisdiction) consisting of:

district, urban district and town courts;

city courts in Kiev and Sevastopol.

Local specialized courts (either commercial or administrative jurisdiction) consisting of:

regional courts;

commercial and administrative courts of the capital of Autonomous Republic of Crimea;

city courts in Kiev and Sevastopol.

Appellate courts

Appellate courts (combining criminal and civil jurisdiction), consisting of:

regional appellate courts;

appellate court of the capital of Autonomous Republic of Crimea;

appellate courts of the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol.

Appellate specialized courts (either commercial or administrative jurisdiction) consisting of:

commercial appellate courts;

administrative appellate courts.

High courts with specialized jurisdiction

The High Specialized Court on Civil and Criminal Cases, covering civil and criminal cases;

The High Administrative Court of Ukraine, covering administrative cases;

The High Commercial Court of Ukraine, covering economic and commercial cases.

The Supreme Court of Ukraine

Supreme Court is the highest court within the system of courts of general jurisdiction, conducting the review re unequal application of the rules of substantive law by the cassation courts and subject to cases when international judicial institution the jurisdiction of which is recognized by Ukraine has established the violation of international obligations by Ukraine.

Judges

Congress of Judges of Ukraine

Council of Judges of Ukraine

Highest Qualification Commission of Judges (Ukraine)

State Court Administration of Ukraine

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is a special body with authority to assess whether legislative acts of the Parliament, President, Cabinet or Crimean Parliament are in line with the Constitution of Ukraine. This Court also gives commentaries to certain norms of the Constitution or laws of Ukraine (superior acts of Parliament).

Prosecution

Prosecutors in Ukraine have greater powers then in most European countries. According to the European Commission for Democracy through Law ‘the role and functions of the Prosecutor’s Office is not in accordance with Council of Europe standards".[16]

Supreme Council of Justice

Main article: Supreme Council of Justice (Ukraine)

Beside everything above-mentioned there also is the Supreme Council of Justice which was legalized on January 15, 1998.[17] This council "is a collective independent body that is responsible for formation of the high-profile judge corpus capable of qualified, honest and impartial exercise of justice on a professional basis; and for making decisions regarding violations by judges and procurators of the requirements concerning their incompatibility and within the scope of their competence of their disciplinary responsibility". Three members of the council are automatically assigned for holding the following positions: Chairman of the Supreme Court, Minister of Justice, and Prosecutor General. The other 17 members are elected for a period of six years. The council consists of 20 members.

4. European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECoHR) hears and decides particular type of complaints. These complaints relate to abuse of human rights. ECoHR’s other popular name is "Strasbourg Court". Member countries of the Council of Europe created ECoHR to arrange all such complaints, listen to the complaints, and to give decisions. European Convention on Human Rights tells about many human rights. ECoHR sees that people should enjoy all these human rights.

ECoHR' has a number of judges. The number of judges is seven normally but at the case of dealing a great issue, the number will be 21 and the judges are equally from member countries of the Council of Europe. At present, there are forty six member countries of the Council of Europe. Each country may have one judge in the ECoHR. But, judges work independently for the ECoHR, and not for their country.

Block 4

1. Law firm structure