Уголовные и гражданские дела.

Study the words and the word-combinations.

case – судебное дело, судебный прецедент

injury – вред, ущерб, телесное повреждение

defendant – ответчик, обвиняемый, подсудимый

plaintiff – истец, обвинитель

lawsuit – судебное дело, иск, тяжба

dispute – спор, диспут

counterclaim – встречный иск

burden of proof – бремя доказывания

preponderance of evidence – наличие более веских доказательств

verdict – решение присяжных, вердикт

juror – присяжный заседатель

accuse – обвинять в чем-либо, предъявлять обвинение

crime – преступление, преступность

commit – совершать какое-либо действие (преступление)

complaint – иск жалоба, официальное обвинение

 

I.Read the text

Kinds of cases

Civil cases

Civil cases are usually disputes between or among private citizens, corporations, governments, governing agencies, and other organizations. Most often, the party bringing the suit is asking for money damages for some wrong that has been done. For example, a tenant may sue a landlord for failure to fix a leaky roof, or a landlord may sue a tenant for failure to pay rent. People who have been injured may sue a person or a company they feel is responsible for the injury.

The party bringing the suit is called the plaintiff; the party being sued is called the defendant. There may be many plaintiffs or many defendants in the same case.

The plaintiff starts the lawsuit by filing a paper called a complaint, in which the case against the defendant is stated. The next paper filed is usually the answer, in which the defendant disputes what the plaintiff has said in the complaint. The defendant may also feel that there has been a wrong committed by the plaintiff, in which case a counterclaim will be filed along with the answer. It is up to the plaintiff to prove the case against the defendant. In each civil case the judge tells the jury the extent to which the plaintiff must prove the case. This is called the plaintiff’s burden of proof, a burden that the plaintiff must meet in order to win. In most civil cases the plaintiff’s burden is to prove the case by a preponderance of evidence, that is, that the plaintiff’s version of what happened in the case is more probably true than not true.

Jury verdicts do not need to be unanimous in civil cases. Only ten jurors need to agree upon a verdict if there are 12 jurors: five must agree if there are six jurors.

Criminal cases

A criminal case is brought by the state or by a city or county against a person or persons accused of having committed a crime. The state, city, or county is called the plaintiff; the accused person is called the defendant. The charge against the defendant is called an information or a complaint. The defendant has pleaded not guilty and you should presume the defendant’s innocence throughout the entire trial unless the plaintiff proves the defendant guilty. The plaintiff’s burden of proof is greater in a criminal case than in a civil case. In each criminal case you hear the proof; the plaintiff must prove each of these elements beyond reasonable doubt before the defendant can be found guilty.

In criminal cases the verdict must be unanimous, that is, all jurors must agree that the defendant is guilty in order to overcome the presumption of innocence.

 

Виды наказаний

Study the words and the word-combinations

 

definition – определение

a matter of difficulty – вопрос вызывающий затруднение

is punishable by the State – наказуемый государством

a violation of the public rights – нарушение общественных прав

breaches of law – нарушение закона

occur – случаться, встречаться

involves guilty conduct and guilty intention – включает преступное поведение, преступное намерение

particularly grave offences – особенно тяжкие преступления

deprivation of liberty – лишение свободы

death sentence – смертный приговор

majority - большинство

corrective labour – исправительные работы

 

I. Scan through the text

Crime and Punishment

The definition of a “crime” has always been a matter of difficulty and no really satisfactory definition of a “crime” has yet been evolved. You may say that “crime” is a violation of the public rights and duties, which is punishable by the State. But a distinction must be drawn between breaches of law which are crimes and those which are merely illegal without being criminal.

Besides, there are some acts, which are crimes in our country but not in another. For example, it is a crime to drink alcohol in Saudi Arabia, but not in Egypt. It is a crime to smoke marijuana in England, but not in the Netherlands. However, there are quite a lot of agreements among states as to which acts are criminal.

No one knows why crime occurs. Since the 18^th century various scientific theories have been advanced to explain crime. But since the mid20^th century, the notion that crime can be explained by any single theory has fallen into disfavour among investigators. They explain it by so-called multiple factor, which includes biological, psychological, cultural, economic and political reasons.

As a general rule “crime” involves guilty conduct (actus Reus) and guilty intention (mens Rea).

Treason, sabotage, banditry, desertion in a time of war, armed robbery, premeditated murder, rape under aggravating circumstances and certain other singularly dangerous social crimes are qualified as particularly grave offences. In such an event deprivation of liberty of up to 15 years may be applied or the death sentence which is regarded as an exceptional measure. (The death penalty was abolished in Britain in 1969).

The purpose of punishments is to reform the offender and to rehabilitate him, on the other hand when punish, we warm other people of what will happen if they break the law.

Criminal sentences ordinarily embrace four basic modes of punishment. In descending order of severity these are: incarceration, community supervision, fine, and restitution. The death penalty is now possible only for certain types of atrocious murders and treason. It is never applied in respect to persons under 18. The majority of criminal sanctions are confined to short terms of deprivation of liberty and penalties not involving deprivation of liberty: corrective labour and public censure.

Criminal and civil procedures are different. Criminal actions are nearly always started by the state. Civil actions are started by individuals. The party bringing a criminal action is called the prosecution, but the party bringing a civil action is called the plaintiff. In both kinds of action the other party is known as the defendant.

 

4. Тюремное заключение

 

Study the words and the word-combinations

 

Imprisonment - тюремное заключение;

primarily - главным образом;

confinement - лишение свободы, заключение под стражу;

convicted person - осужденный;

transportation - транспортация (ссылать за моря как вид уголовного наказания);

abolition - отмена;

concern - забота, беспокойство;

diminish - уменьшаться;

compound – усугублять;

predominantly - главным образом;

in custody - содержащийся под стражей;

previous conviction - судимость;

burglary - ночная кража со взломом;

robbery - грабеж с насилием или разбой.

 

Prisons

The idea of imprisonment as a form of punishment is relatively modern. Until the late 18th century, prisons were used primarily for the confinement of debtors who could not pay, of accused persons waiting to be tried, and of those convicted persons waiting for their sentences—death or transportation. Since the late 18th century, with the decline of capital punishment (death penalty), the prison has come to be used also as a place of punishment. With the abolition of transportation, the prison has become the principal sanction for most serious crimes. Concern over prison conditions has not diminished over the years. Problems of security and the protection of prisoners from violence on the part of other prisoners have been compounded by the difficulties arising from overcrowding, as prison populations in most countries continue to grow. The people who make up the populations of most prison systems have many characteristics in common. The populations of most prison systems are predominantly male—in England males outnumber females by 28 to 1 (although the number of women in prison is rising at a higher rate than the number of men)—and relatively young—nearly 70 percent of those in custody are under the age of 30. [To be in custody means to be kept in prison by the police until you go to court, because the police think you are guilty.] Most offenders in prison have a number of previous convictions; the offenses they have committed are most commonly burglary, theft, violence, or robbery. A similar picture is revealed by U.S. statistics; the most common offenses for which prisoners are in custody are burglary and robbery. [Burglary is the crime of getting into a building to steal things. Violence is behaviour that is intended to hurt other people physically. Robbery is the crime of stealing things from a bank, shop etc, especially using violence.]

Тюрьма и ее разновидности.

Study the words and the word-combinations

 

Serve a sentence - отбывать наказание;

long sentence - длительный срок лишения свободы;

short sentence - краткий срок лишения свободы;

detain - содержать под стражей;

security - режим в тюрьме;

maximum-security prison - тюрьма с максимальной изоляцией заключенных;

strict / high security - строгий режим;

medium security - режим средней строгости;

minimum security - общий режим;

likely - склонный;

escape - побег;

constitute - составлять;

confine - держать взаперти;

open prison - тюрьма открытого типа (неохраняемая);

abscond - скрываться от правосудия;

treatment - исправление преступников;

detention centre - центр для содержания под стражей задержанных правонарушителей,

discipline - дисциплина.

 

Types of prisons.

 

Prisons are classified administratively as local or central prisons. Local prisons serve a variety of purposes—holding prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing and prisoners serving shorter sentences, up to about 18 months. There the worst overcrowding occurs. Prisoners serving longer sentences are detained in central prisons. Central prisons are large maximum-security prisons holding more than 1, 000 offenders in conditions of strict security. For security, prisoners are classified into four categories, from A (prisoners likely to attempt escape, and constituting, if successful, a significant danger to the public) to D (prisoners who can be trusted to work in conditions of minimal security). Prisoners who are not considered a danger to the community may be confined in low-security or open prisons, where there is normally no obstacle to a prisoner's absconding. Women are normally held in separate institutions. Young people who have done something illegal are kept in detention centres because they are too young to go to prison. The purpose of these institutions is rather treatment or correction than punishment. Detention centres for young offenders serving sentences that must not exceed four months are based on the principle of strict discipline and physical activity; research has failed to show, however, that it is an effective deterrent to further crime.

 

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