CHAPTER II

CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES

UNIT 4

► Ex. I. Choose the correct words to complete the following statements.

Law breakers: a pickpocket; a burglar; a murderer; a kidnapper; a traitor; an accomplice; a drug dealer; a spy; a terrorist; an assassin; a hooligan; a stowaway; a thief; a hijacker; a forger; a robber; a smuggler; an arsonist; a shoplifter; a mugger; an offender; a vandal; a gangster; a deserter; a bigamist.

1)... sets fire to property illegally. 2)... steals from shops while acting as an ordinary customer. 3)... is someone who attacks people and robs them in a public place. 4)... is anyone who breaks the law. 5)... deliberately causes damage to property. 6)... breaks into houses or other buildings to steal. 7)... kills someone. 8)... takes away people by force and demands money for their return. 9)... steals things from people's pockets in crowded places. 10)... helps a criminal in a criminal act.

II)... buys and sells drugs illegally. 12)... gets secret information from another country. 13)... uses violence for political reasons. 14)... murders for political reasons or a reward. 15)... causes damage or disturbance in public places. 16)... hides on a ship or plane to get a free journey. 17)... is one who steals. 18)... takes control of a plane by force and makes the pilot change course. 19)... makes counterfeit (false) money or signatures. 20)... is someone who steals money or property by force from people or places. 21)... brings goods into a country illegally without paying tax. 22)... betrays his country to another state. 23)... is a member of a criminal group. 24)... is a soldier who runs away from the army. 25)... marries illegally, being married already.

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

English.

Тяжкое убийство; поджог; кража; убийца; лицо, похитившее человека с целью выкупа; двоеженец; торговец наркотиками; правонарушитель; вандал; поджигатель; вор-взломщик; террорист; магазинный вор; уличный грабитель; вор; хулиган; контрабандист; сообщник; карманный вор; шпион; убийца по политическим мотивам или по найму; воздушный пират; заяц (в поезде и т.п.); фальшивомонетчик; гангстер; грабитель, разбойник; предатель; дезертир.

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

Felony and misdemeanour. 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 divided crimes into two categories—felonies (the graver crimes, generally punishable with death, which resulted in forfeiture of the perpetrator's land and goods to the crown) and misdemeanours (for which the common law provided fines or imprisonment). There were many differences in the procedure of the courts according to whether the charge was felony or misdemeanour, and other matters that depended 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 misdemeanour. [Suspect is someone who is thought to be guilty of a crime.] By the early 19th century it had become clear that the growth of the law had rendered this classification obsolete and in many cases inconsistent with the gravity of the offenses concerned, for example, theft was a felony, irrespective of the amount stolen or obtaining by fraud was always a misdemeanour. Efforts to abolish the distinction in English law did not succeed until 1967, when the distinction was replaced by that between arrestable offenses and other offenses. [Arrestable offenses are ones punishable with five years' imprisonment or more.] The traditional classification between felony and misdemeanour has been retained in many U.S. jurisdictions and is used as the basis of determining the court that will hear the case.