Courts, crimes, rights and contracts: the vocabulary of crime reports, legal documents and everyday dealings with officials. It also covers what to say if you ever need the police.
B1 to C1·43 words and phrases·Audio for every word
правосу́дие (pra-va-SU-di-ye), “justice”, literally “right judging”. English “law” splits in Russian into зако́н, a particular law, and пра́во, law as a whole.
The short answer
The core words are суд (court), зако́н (a law), пра́во (law as a system; a right), преступле́ние (crime) and наказа́ние (punishment). Legal verbs come with fixed prepositions that differ from English: you are accused in something (обвини́ть в + prepositional), sentenced to something (приговори́ть к + dative), and you sue onto someone (пода́ть в суд на + accusative).
The legal system
Each word shows its gender (m., f., n.) and a common phrase. Two are unusual: судья́ (judge) ends in -я but is masculine when it refers to a man, and полице́йский (police officer) is an adjective used as a noun, so it declines like one. Tap any word to hear it.
Word
Meaning
Gender
In a phrase
court; trial
m.
judge
m. (for a man)
lawyer (defence)
m.
prosecutor
m.
police
f.
police officer
adj.-noun
crime
n.
criminal
m.
punishment
n.
fine
m.
prison
f.
justice (the system)
n.
In the news: Его́ задержа́ли (he was detained), ему́ предъяви́ли обвине́ние (he was charged), суд вы́нес пригово́р (the court passed sentence).
зако́н, пра́во, права́
One English word, “law”, and its neighbour “right” share three Russian words. The plural права́ (with stress on the ending) has a surprising everyday meaning.
Crimes and offences
The words of a crime report. Many are abstract nouns built from verbs (укра́сть → кра́жа, “to steal → theft”), so knowing the verb helps you guess the noun.
Legal verbs and their cases
Legal Russian is full of fixed verb + preposition + case combinations. The pattern is in blue; learn it with the verb. Verbs are given as aspect pairs: ongoing / completed (see verbs and their cases).
Documents, contracts and evidence
The words you meet when renting a flat, signing a contract or giving a statement. Russian officials ask for documents constantly, so these are practical as well as legal.
If you need the police
Four sentences worth knowing by heart. The emergency number in Russia is 112 (сто двена́дцать) from any phone; 102 connects directly to the police.