Criminal punishment

Criminal punishment of persons who have committed crimes is one or the forms of state fight against crime. Any criminal punishment is always a restriction of the rights of convicted persons. This restriction is a sort of retribution for the crime a person committed. If a person is convicted, the court decides on the most appropriate sentence. The facts of the offence, the circumstances of the offender, his/her previous convictions are taken into account. The more serious an offence is, the stricter a penalty should be.

But in any case, the responsibility of the court is to impose an exact and just punishment relevant to the gravity of a crime. The more just the punishment is, the greater is the possibility of a person's reformation. The defense lawyer may make a speech in mitigation on behalf of the offender.

There are the following basic penalties: deprivation of liberty — imprisonment for a certain period of time or life imprisonment -, exile, fines or public censure. Capital punishment is usually used only as an exceptional measure when an especially grave crime was committed. The list of such crimes is not long and it is strictly determined bylaw. There are quite a lot of countries where death penalty is prohibited.

Ex. 1. Выучите следующие слова и выражения

to restrict – ограничивать

restriction - ограничение

to convict — осуждать

retributio n — кара

to prevent - предотвращать

prevention - предупреждение

preventive measures — превентивные меры

relevant (to) — относящийся к

to deprive - лишать

deprivation — лишение exile – ссылка

Ex. 3. Составьте вопросы так, чтобы приведенные ниже предложе­ния были бы к ним ответом.

1. No, a criminal punishment is not only a retribution for the offence committed but also a form of prevention of crimes.

2. No, capital punishment is not yet prohibited in Russia.

3. A form of criminal punishment depends (зависит) on the gravity of the crime committed and the personality of a criminal.

Ex. 4. Переведите на русский язык, обращая внимание на страдатель­ный залог.

1.A penalty must be imposed by the court.

2.The rights of the convicted persons are restricted.

3.There are some supplementary penalties that may be imposed on the convicted persons.

4.Capital punishment is permitted only in exceptional cases.

5.The list of crimes which can be punished by a sentence of death is defined by law.

Ex. 5. Переведите на русский язык, обращая внимание на сравни­тельную конструкцию.

1.The longer the night, the shorter the day.

2.The more serious a crime is, the more strict a punishment will be.

3.The sooner you start, the quicker you'll finish.

4.The more people you know,, the less time you have to see them.

Ex. 6. а) Выучите названия правонарушений.

burglary — проникновение в жилище с целью совершить преступление

kidnapping — похищение людей

arson — поджог

shoplifting — кража в магазинах

blackmail — шантаж

smuggling - контрабанда

forgery — подлог

fraud — мошенничество

terrorism — терроризм

drug pushing — распространение наркотиков

vandalism - вандализм

robbery — ограбление

manslaughter - неумышленное убийство

murder - предумышленное убийство

Ex. 7. Скажите, какого рода наказание полагается за следующие преступления, и обоснуйте свою точку зрения: blackmail, forgery, murder, terrorism, shoplifting

Ex. 8. Представьте, что вы член комиссии по помилованию (parole board), тюрьма переполнена, и вам нужно освободить двух зак­люченных. Обоснуйте свой выбор:

Alan Jones: Guilty of murdering his wife by slowly poisoning her. Described by neighbours as a kind and gentle person. His children love him. His wife had lots of affairs and pushed him to the limit.

Janet Green: Found guilty of shoplifting for the tenth time. She is a homeless tramp who likes to spend the winter in prison. It is early December and the weather is very cold.

Miranda Morgan: A drug addict guilty of selling heroin to teenagers. Has already tried two unsuccessful drug treatment programmes. Has a two year old child who will have to go into care if she goes to jail.

Mick Brown: Guilty of vandalism and football hooliganism. 19 years old and below average intelligence. Aggressive and gets violent when drunk. One previous offence for drunken driving.

Cynthia Carter: English teacher guilty of smuggling her two cats into England. This is against quarantine regulations. The customs officers would like an example to be made of her.

Ex. 9. Переведите диалоги (работа с переводчиком).

A: How are persons under 18 punished in your country? В: Если суд сочтет возможным не применять наказания к че­ловеку, не достигшему 16 лет, то он может выбрать воспита­тельные меры.

A: What do you mean by educational measures? Is it a warning on a person or a reprimand?

В: Да, и то, и другое. Кроме того, это может быть извинение пострадавшей стороне и передача под наблюдение (surveillance) родителей.

A: What about a person's future life? Does the court create a criminal record and how will it affect his/her future life? В: Нет, уголовное дело в таких случаях не заводится, и если человек более не нарушит закон, то и не будет отрицательных последствий (consequences).

Ex. 10. Прочитайте текст без словаря и назовите слова, являющиеся юридическими терминами. Расскажите по-английски, как ра­ботает суд присяжных.

In England a person accused of crime must always be presumed innocent until he has been proven guilty. If a criminal case is serious it is always investigated with a jury. What is a jury and how does it function?

There are 12 members of the jury both men and women. There are quite a lot of people in England who think that 12 ordinary men and women are not capable of understanding properly all the evidence given at criminal trials. But there is no doubt about it because judges are great experts in summing up the evidence. The judge calls the jury's attention to all most important points in the evidence. He favoures neither prosecution nor defence. The members of the jury decide only the questions of fact. Questions of law are for the judge. The jury retires to a private room to consider the verdict. If the jury cannot agree, they must be discharged (распущен) and a new jury is formed.

A verdict has to be unanimous (единогласный). English law requires that the guilt of an accused man must be proved 'beyond reasonable doubt'. When the jury returns to the courtroom, they have to give only one answer " Guilty" or " Not guilty".

Упражнения:

1. Раскройте скобки, употребляя глаголы в Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous:

2. He (to live) in Inverness for many years when the event took place.

3. I (to explain) this for hours: doesn`t even one of you understand it now?

4. “Where have you been? ” “- I (to swim)”

5. I (to live) in London and many other big cities that I hated.

6. I (to see) him several times this week.

7. After she (to break) her promise, she was filled her remorse.

8. I (to work) all the time whereas he had been amusing himself.

9. I (hardly, leave) the house when it began to pour.

10. “You (to do) too much recently. Take a rest.”

2. Употребите отрицательную и вопросительную форму в Past Perfect Continuous и переведите предложения:

1. Ken gave up smoking two years ago. He had been smoking for thirty years.

2. I was very tired when I came home. I`d been working hard all day.

3. At last the bus came. I`d been waiting for twenty minutes.

4. It wasn1t raining when we went out. The sun was shining. But it had been raining for a few hours.

5. We were good friends. We had known each other for years.

3. Раскройте скобки, употребляя глаголы в Past Perfect Continuous:

1. The class (to discuss) the party for same time when the teacher came in.

2. When I (to come), he (to sleep) for an hour. I (to think) he (to sleep) since 3 o`clock.

3. He (to feel) tired when he (to come) home as he (to play) football.

4. He (to draw) the picture for a week before he (to show) it to us.

5. She (to learn) English for a few years.

6. I (to wait) for 20 minutes when suddenly I (to realize) I (to be in the wrong restaurant.)