Типы судов и юридических профессий в Республике Беларусь

 

Study the words and the word-combinations.

 

to resolve cases – принимать решения по судебным делам

people’s assessors – народные заседатели

district – район, округ

courts of first and second instances – суды первой и второй судебных инстанций

to return a verdict – выносить (провозглашать) вердикт (решение)

to agree upon a verdict – прийти к согласию в вопросе о вердикте

counsel for the defence – адвокат, защитник

counsel for the prosecution – обвинитель, прокурор

investigator – следователь

chairman – председатель

trial – суд, судебный процесс

conduct – вести (дела)

presume innocence – считать невиновным

on the consent of – с согласия

legal adviser – консультант

 

1..Read the text.

The Judicial System of the Republic of Belarus. Legal professions in Belarus

Belorussian courts are judicial organs of government, which resolve disputes of civil and criminal cases on the territory of Belarus. The Constitution of Belarus provides the system of election of judges and People’s assessors and the collective order of trying criminal and civil cases in courts.

In general the court system is divided into 3 stages – district (municipal) courts, regional courts and Minsk city court and the highest one – the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus. It is the highest appellate court in our country. It is headed by the Chairman who is appointed by the President on the consent of the Counsel of the Republic.

Criminal and civil courts are distinguished as courts of first and second instances. Courts of first instance pronounce verdicts in criminal cases and pass judgement in civil cases after trial.

Courts of second instance are courts of cassation and can control the legality and justification of verdicts or judgement pronounced by courts of first instance.

In national economy lawyers are entrusted the control on the legality of orders and instructions issued by government body: they participate in drawing up different agreements and contracts, which are concluded with other enterprises; lawyers also inform workers on the current legislation and give help in legal matters, conduct their cases in courts. So you may work as a judge, an advocate, a counsel for the defence, public prosecutor, procurator, notary, investigator, and legal adviser.

In addition to this professional group there are non-professional legal counselors who give advice on various legal problems and are often employed by business firms.

All lawyers in our country are incorporated either in the national or regional bar. Members of the bar work at legal advisory offices, which function in every town administrative district.

All our citizens are equal before the law. Judges are elected for a term of 5 years. Not only professional lawyers but also the representatives of the population hear all criminal and civil cases having equal authority.

The defendants are guaranteed the right to defence. Proceedings of all courts are open. All people before the court are presumed innocent, until the court, having observed all procedural guarantees, finds them guilty. Only then is the sentence pronounced. An appeal can be made against the ruling to a higher court, right up to the Supreme Court.

 

Британская полиция и её полномочия.

THE BRITISH POLICE

The British police officer is a well-known figure to anyone who has visited Britain or who has seen British films. Policemen are to be seen in towns and cities keeping law and order, either walking in pairs down the streets (" walking the beat" ) or driving specially marked police cars. Once known as 'panda cars' because of their distinctive markings, these are now often jokingly referred to as 'jam sandwiches' because of the pink fluorescent stripe running horizontally around the bodywork. In the past, policemen were often known as 'bobbies' after Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the police force. Nowadays, common nicknames include 'the cops', 'the fuzz', 'the pigs', and 'the Old Bill' (particularly in London). Few people realise, however, that the police in Britain are organised very differently from many other countries.

Most countries, for example, have a national police force which is controlled by central Government. Britain has no national police force, although police policy is governed by the central Government's Home Office. Instead, there is a separate police force for each of 52 areas into which the country is divided. Each has a police authority – a committee of local county councillors and magistrates.

The forces co-operate with each other, but it is unusual for members of one force to operate in another's area unless they are asked to give assistance. This sometimes happens when there has been a very serious crime. A Chief Constable (the most senior police officer of a force) may sometimes ask for the assistance of London's police force, based at New Scotland Yard – known simply as 'the Yard'.

In most countries the police carry guns. In Britain, however, this is extremely unusual. Policemen do not, as a rule, carry firearms in their day-to-day work, though certain specialist units are trained to do so and can be called upon to help the regular police force in situations where firearms are involved, e.g. terrorist incidents, armed robberies etc. The only policemen who routinely | carry weapons are those assigned to guard politicians and diplomats, or special officers who patrol airports.

In certain circumstances specially trained police officers can be armed, but only with the signed permission of a magistrate.

All' members of the police must have gained a certain level of academic qualifications at school and undergone a period of intensive training. Like in the army, there are a number of ranks: after the Chief Constable comes the Assistant Chief Constable, Chief Superintendent, Chief Inspector, Inspector, Sergeant and Constable. Women make up about 10 per cent of the police force. The police are helped by a number of Special Constables – members of the public who work for the police voluntarily for a few hours a week.

Each police force has its own Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Members of CIDs are detectives, and they do not wear uniforms. (The other uniformed people you see in British towns are traffic wardens. Their job is to make sure that drivers obey the parking regulations. They have no other powers – it is the police who are responsible for controlling offences like speeding, careless driving and drunken driving.)

The duties of the police are varied, ranging from assisting at accidents to safeguarding public order and dealing with lost property. One of their main functions is, of course, apprehending criminals and would-be criminals.

 

Раскрытие преступлений

 

 

Фазы раскрытия преступлений.

Study the words and the word-combinations

 

Crime detection - расследование / раскрытие преступления;

law enforcement agency - правоприменяющий орган; орган юстиции; полицейский орган;

related - связанный;

distinguishable - отличимый;

identification of suspect - опознание подозреваемого;

sufficient evidence - достаточное доказательство;

indict - предъявлять обвинение;

report - сообщать;

subject's assent - согласие субъекта;

identifiable - могущий быть идентифицированным, могущий быть опознанным;

obscenity – непристойность, непристойное поведение;

controversial - спорный;

surveillance - наблюдение;

interception - перехват; подслушивание;

intercept - перехватить;

infiltration - проникновение;

entrapment - провокация преступления с целью его изобличения;

entrap - поймать в ловушку.

forensic - судебный;

investigation - расследование, дознание;

identification - установление личности;

pattern - рисунок;

surface - поверхность;

latent - скрытый, латентный;

fingerprint evidence - отпечатки пальцев как доказательство;

fingerprinting - дактилоскопия;

maintain - хранить;

conviction – осуждение, судимость;

crime scene - место совершения преступления;

match - подбирать под пару;

clue - улика;

identifying witness – понятой

 

 

I. Scan through the text. Restore the word order in the questions that follow and answer them.

Crime detection and its phases

 

In most countries the detection of crime is the responsibility of the police, although special law enforcement agencies may be responsible for the discovery of particular types of crime. Customs departments, for instance, may be responsible for the detection of smuggling and related offenses. Crime detection falls into three distinguishable phases: the discovery that a crime has been committed, the identification of a suspect, and the collection of sufficient evidence to indict the suspect before the court. [To indict means to officially charge someone with a criminal offence.] Criminologists have shown that many crimes are discovered by persons, such as victims or witnesses, other than the police, but certain types—in particular crimes that may involve a subject's assent, such as dealing in drugs or prostitution, or those in which there may be no identifiable victim, such as obscenity—are often not discovered unless the police take active steps to determine whether these crimes are being committed. [Obscenity is sexually offensive language or behaviour.] This may require controversial methods, such as surveillance, interception of communications, infiltration of gangs, and entrapment, for example, by making a purchase from a suspected drug dealer. [Surveillance is the act of carefully watching a person or place because they may be connected with criminal activities. To infiltrate means to secretly join an organization or enter a place in order to find out information about them or harm them. Entrapment is the practice of trapping someone by tricking them, especially to show that they are guilty of a crime.]

5. Дактилоскопия

 

Suspect identification by fingerprints

 

Forensic science plays an important part in the investigation of serious crimes. One of the first significant developments was identification by fingerprints. [Identification is an act of identifying by official papers or cards, such as your passport, that prove who you are. To identify means to recognize and correctly name someone or something. Fingerprint is a mark made by the pattern of lines at the end of a person's finger, which can be used by the police to help find criminals.] It was discovered in the 19th century that almost any contact between a finger and a surface left a latent mark. [Something that is latent is present but hidden, and may develop or become more noticeable in the future.] It was accepted in 1893 that no two individuals had the same fingerprints. Fingerprint evidence was accepted for the first time in an English court in 1902. Fingerprinting is now widely used as a means of identifying criminals. Most major police forces maintain collections of fingerprints taken from known criminals at the time of their conviction, for use in identifying these individuals should they commit later crimes. [Conviction is a decision in a court of law that someone is guilty of a crime.] Fingerprints found at the scene of the crime are matched with fingerprints in the collection. According to the British standard, if the sets of fingerprints share at least 16 characteristics, it is considered that they are from the same person.

 

Суд и его действующие лица.

 

 

Study the words and the word-combinations.

 

clerk - секретарь суда

bailiff - судебный пристав

probation officer - чиновник, надзирающий за лицами, направленными судом на пробацию

probation - пробация, опека (вид условного осуждения)

nevertheless - тем не менее

public officer - публичное должностное лицо

rural justice of the peace - сельский мировой судья

part-time - занятый неполный рабочий день

makeshift – временный

fee - гонорар

pittance for salary - скудное жалованье

appellate – апелляционный

 

 

Court and its people

 

Court is a building or room where all the information concerning a crime is given so that it can be judged. A court is a complex institution whose functioning depends upon many people: not only the judge but also the parties, their lawyers, witnesses, clerks, bailiffs, probation officers, administrators, and many others, including, in certain types of cases, jurors. Party is one of the persons or sides in a legal dispute. Lawyer is someone whose job is to advise people about laws, write formal agreements, or represent people in court. Witness is someone who sees a crime and can describe what happened. Clerk is an official in charge of the records of a court. Bailiff is an official of the legal system who watches prisoners and keeps order in a court of law. Probation officer is someone whose job is to watch, advise, and help people who have broken the law and are on probation. Probation is a system that allows some criminals not to go to prison, if they behave well and see a probation officer regularly, for a fixed period of time. Juror is a member of a jury. Jury is a group of 12 ordinary people who listen to details of a case in court and decide whether someone is guilty or not. Nevertheless, the central figure in any court is the judge. Judge is the official with authority to hear and decide how criminals should be punished. Judges vary enormously, not only from nation to nation but often within a single nation. For example, a rural justice of the peace in the United States untrained in the law, serving part-time, sitting alone in work clothes in a makeshift (made for temporary use) courtroom, collecting small fees or receiving a pittance for salary. He bears little resemblance to a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States a full-time, well-paid, black-robed professional, assisted by law clerks and secretaries, sitting in a marble palace with eight colleagues and deciding at the highest appellate level only questions of national importance. Yet both persons are judges.

 

Семестр

Виды преступлений.

Study the words and word-combinations

 

offense – правонарушение

murder – убийство

battery – избиение

rape – изнасилование

robbery – грабёж

extortion – вымогательство

kidnapping – похищение (людей)

theft – воровство, кража

embezzlement – растрата

false pretenses – мошеннический обман

forgery – подделка, подлог

burglary – кража со взломом

arson – поджог

rioting – нарушение общественного порядка

treason – измена, предательство

drug deals – распространение наркотиков

felony – фелония (категория тяжких преступлений)

misdemeanor–мисдиминор (категория менее опасных преступлений, граничащих с административными правонарушениями)

forfeiture – конфискация

charge – обвинение

distinction – различение

suspect – подозреваемый

permissible – допустимый

punishment - наказание

 

I. Scan through the text. Work in pairs to answer the questions that follow.

 

Classification of Crimes

The definition of a “crime” has always been a matter of difficulty and no really satisfactory definition of a “crime” has been yet 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 branches 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. However, there are quite a lot of agreements among states as to which acts are criminal.

Crime has three major parts: crime against person; crime against property; and crime against the public order.

A crime against person always involves force and threat of force against the body of another (murder, battery, rape, robbery, extortion, kidnapping, etc.).

Crimes against property are distinguished by an absence of force against a person and a loss of property is the key (theft, embezzlement, false pretenses, forgery, burglary, arson, etc.).

Crimes against the public order include rioting, treason, and most of the “victimless” crimes (prostitution, sale of pornography, drug deals). Violence to person or loss of property may or may not be presented. What is present, is behavior seen harmful to the integrity of community to such an extent as to call for criminal punishment. Sometimes we see these as “moral crimes”.

Most legal systems find it necessary to divide crimes into categories for various purposes connected with the procedure of the courts – determining, for instance, which kind of court may deal with which kind of offense. The common law originally divide crimes into two categories – felonies (the grave crimes, generally punishable with death, which resulted in forfeiture of the perpetrator’s land and goods) and misdemeanours (for which the common law provided fines and imprisonment). There were many differences in the procedure of the courts according to whether the charge was felony or misdemeanour, and other matters that depend on the distinction included the power of the police to arrest a suspect on suspicion that he had committed an offense, since to arrest a suspect was generally permissible in felony, but not in misdemeanor.

No one knows why crime occurs. Since the 18^th century various scientific theories have been advanced to explain crime. But since the mid- 20^th century, the notion that crime can be explained by any single theory has fallen into disfavour among investigators. They explain it so-called multiple factor, which includes biological, psychological, cultural, economic and political reasons.

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