Criminal law

UNIT 1

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

Criminal law is the body of law that defines criminal offenses, regulates the apprehension, charging, and trial of suspected persons, and fixes punishment for convicted offenders. Criminal law defines acts as criminal. In other words, however immoral or unjust an act may be thought to be, it is not a crime unless the law says it is one. A crime is usually defined as a voluntary act or omission, together with a given state of mind. The state of mind involves purpose, awareness, recklessness, or negligence. Acts committed during fits of epilepsy or while sleepwalking are involuntary and thus do not qualify as crimes. Mental disorders are also recognized as limiting or absolving responsibility for acts otherwise regarded as criminal. The law of most countries recognizes that the use of force might be justifiable. The use of force might be justifiable in self-defense, defense of other persons, protection of property, and enforcement of the law. Criminal acts include arson, rape, treason, aggravated assault, theft, burglary, robbery, murder, and conspiracy. [Conspiracy is a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal] Criminal law also deals with the preparation of charges and with trial procedures. The latter involves the formation of juries, the guarantee of a public trial, the right to counsel, the presentation of evidence, the establishment of guilt, and sentencing, if guilt has been established. Criminal law is concerned with postconviction procedures, such as calling for a new trial or challenging a conviction, either in the court where the conviction was declared or in appeal to a higher court.

criminal law	уголовное право	enforcement of law	применение закона
body of laws	совокупность правовых норм	arson	поджог
apprehension	задержание, арест	rape	изнасилование
charging	обвинение	treason	государственная измена
convicted	осужденный	aggravated assault	нападение при отягчающих обстоятельствах
voluntary act	умышленное действие	theft	кража
omission	бездействие	burglary	ночная кража со взломом
state of mind	намерения, направление мыслей; психическое состояние	robbery	грабеж с насилием или разбой
epilepsy	эпилепсия	murder	умышленное убийство
awareness	отчет в собственных действиях	conspiracy	сговор о совершении преступления
recklessness	опрометчивость, неосторожность,	public trial	открытый судебный процесс
negligence	небрежность	right to counsel	право пользоваться помощью адвоката
mental disorder	психическое заболевание	establish the guilt	доказать вину
absolve	прощать	postconviction procedure	судопроизводство после осуждения
otherwise	в других отношениях	challenge	оспаривать
justifiable	могущий быть оправданным	conviction	обвинительный приговор

1) What law defines criminal offenses? 2) What does criminal law regulate? 3) What does criminal law fix? 4) It is not a crime unless the law says it is one, is it? 5) What is a crime usually defined as? 6) What does the state of mind involve? 7) What acts are not qualified as crimes? 8) What is also recognized as absolving responsibility for criminal acts? 9) What does the law of most countries recognize? 10) What do criminal acts include? 11) What does criminal law also deal with? 12) What do trial procedures involve? 13) What is criminal law concerned with?

► Ex. II. Agree or disagree with the following statements.

1) Criminal law defines civil offenses. 2) Criminal law doesn't regulate the apprehension, charging, and trial of suspected persons. 3) Criminal law prescribes the punishment for convicted offenders. 4) A crime is usually defined as a voluntary act, together with a given state of mind. 5) The state of mind involves criminal purpose, consciousness, carelessness, or neglect behavior. 6) Acts committed during fits of anger are involuntary and thus do not qualify as crimes. 7) Political disorders are also recognized as limiting or absolving responsibility for acts otherwise regarded as criminal. 8) The use of force is unjustifiable in self-defense and enforcement of the law. 9) Criminal acts include spontaneous combustion and parking violation. 10) Trial procedures don't include the formation of juries and the establishment of guilt.

► Ex. III. Restore the word order in the following statements.

1) Criminal law criminal offenses defines. 2) Criminal law the apprehension of suspected regulates persons. 3) Criminal law the charging of suspected regulates persons. 4) Criminal law the trial of suspected persons regulates. 5) Criminal law punishment for convicted offenders fixes. 6) It is not a crime unless the law it is one says. 7) A crime a dishonest, violent, or immoral action that can be punished by law is. 8) The state of mind purpose and awareness involves. 9) Acts are committed during fits of epilepsy involuntary. 10) Acts qualify committed while sleepwalking do not as crimes. 11) The use of force might justifiable be. 12) Criminal acts murder and conspiracy include. 13) Criminal law with the preparation of charges deals. 14) Criminal law with trial procedures deals. 15) Trial procedures the formation of juries involve. 16) Criminal law is with postconviction procedures concerned.

► Ex. IV. Translate the following words and phrases from Russian into English.

Самовозгорание; умышленное убийство; сговор о совершении преступления; открытый судебный процесс; право пользоваться помощью адвоката; доказать вину; судопроизводство после осуждения; оспаривать; уголовное право; совокупность правовых норм; обвинение; осужденный-умышленное действие; задержание; обвинительный приговор; бездействие; психическое состояние; эпилепсия; отчет в собственных действиях; неосторожность; прощать; могущий быть оправданным; применение закона; нападение при отягчающих обстоятельствах; кража; ночная кража со взломом; грабеж с насилием или разбой; небрежность; поджог; изнасилование; измена; психическое заболевание.

► Ex. V. Complete the following statements.

1) Criminal law defines... 2) Criminal law regulates... 3) Criminal law fixes... 4) It is not a crime unless... 5) A crime is defined as... 6) The state of mind involves... 7) Acts committed during... don't qualify as... 8) Mental disorders are recognized as... 9) The use of force is justifiable in... 10) Criminal acts include... 11) Criminal law deals with... 12) Trial procedures involve... 13) Criminal law is concerned with...

► Ex. VI. Choose one topic to speak about a) what criminal law deals with; b) crime and its definition; c) unjustifiable and justifiable use of force. Retell the text Criminal law.

UNIT 2

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

The concept of crime. Crime and punishment - respectively, the intentional commission of an act usually deemed socially harmful or dangerous and specifically defined, prohibited, and punishable under the criminal law; and the infliction of some kind of pain or loss upon a person found guilty of committing such a misdeed. Crime is whatever conduct the laws of a particular jurisdiction designate as criminal, and there are many differences from one country to another as to what behaviour is prohibited. Conduct that is lawful in one country may be criminal in another, and activity that amounts to a trivial infraction in one country may constitute a serious crime elsewhere. Changing times and social attitudes may lead to changes in the criminal law, so that behaviour that was once criminal becomes lawful. Abortion, once prohibited except in the most unusual circumstances, has become lawful in many countries, as has homosexual behaviour in private between consenting adults, which was once a serious offense. Suicide and attempted suicide, once criminal, have also been removed from the criminal law in many countries. The trend generally is to increase the scope of the criminal law rather than to reduce it. It is more common to find that laws create new criminal offenses than that they abolish old ones. New technologies give rise to new opportunities for their abuse, which in turn give rise to legal restrictions; just as the invention of the motor vehicle led to the creation of new criminal laws designed to regulate its use, so the use of computers has created the need to legislate against new abuses and frauds—or old frauds committed in new ways.