Сегодня на парах: 3 устные темы. По каждой: письменный (в ворде) перевод, глоссарий не менее 20 слов / словосочетаний, начитка в личку.
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Topic 1: CRIME
Once a crime has been committed, criminal law defines every phase of procedure from the investigation, through the trial, to the type and length of punishment if there is a conviction. In the investigation phase the police play a primary role in the pretrial stage. They are responsible for the arrest of suspects, searching and investigating suspects’ and victims’ homes for evidence, the questioning of witnesses, and the carrying out of searches and seizures. A warrant empowers the police to arrest a suspect or to search premises and seize property to obtain evidence.
Once a suspect is in custody, charges are brought against him by a prosecuting attorney or by a grand jury. The suspect is normally granted a pretrial hearing before a judge, at which time the charges against him are read. At this hearing the judge determines whether there is sufficient evidence to justify further action.
All defendants have the right to legal representations from the time of their arrest. The defense lawyer takes part in all procedures from the pretrial hearing to the post-conviction stage.
Private citizens have the right to bring charges against a person they think have committed a crime. This is most often done by contacting the police. There are some offenses for which there is no prosecution unless the victim decides in favor of prosecution.
Defendants in criminal trials have the right to a jury. But they can choose to be tried before a judge only. Some nations do not have the jury system; it has been almost entirely abandoned in Europe, surviving only in Austria, Belgium, Norway, and parts of Switzerland. If a defendant admits before a court to being guilty, there is no need to call a jury.
In Anglo-American law evidence is presented by both the prosecution and the defense. The function of the judge is to enforce the rules regarding evidence and to ask questions to clarify the facts. In European procedures one of the main tasks of the judge is to get evidence by questioning witnesses and experts. Defendants do not have the right to take the stand to testify in their behalf as they do in British and American trials. Instead they are questioned by the presiding judge, but they may choose to keep silent.
A basic rule of criminal law is that guilt must be established beyond a reasonable doubt. The burden of proof rests upon the prosecution. This is the basis of the often-heard "A person is innocent until proven guilty". American law generally requires that every person on a jury must agree on a person's innocence or guilt before they reach a verdict, but in European law a two- thirds majority of the judges is sufficient for the verdict. Once a defendant has been found guilty, the sentencing takes place at a special hearing before a judge. In crimes that can be punished by death, a jury may be asked to pass the sentence or at least express an advisory opinion.
After a conviction, or verdict of guilty, the defense lawyer may ask for a new trial.
Topic 2: PUNISHMENT AND ITS PURPOSE
The main object of Criminal Law is to punish the wrong-doer. The nature of punishment is an important aspect of the Criminal Law. Punishment has as its objects both justice (retribution) and deterrence both of the wrong-doer and other potential criminals.
The punishment should fit the crime. Penalty must be imposed first of all according to the gravity of the crime committed, the personality of an offender, the nature of his guilt and other circumstances relevant to the case in hand. But no form of punishment can ever be totally rational - there will inevitably be a large element of subjective judgement.
The courts now have a wide range of different types of sentences they may pass. They range from the life sentence to community service orders.
Offences themselves and therefore the punishments for those offences are graded according to social danger. The heaviest penalties are for premeditated murder, robbery, theft, bribe taking, large scale embezzlement, and grave offences committed by individuals with a past record of serious crimes.
If a person is found guilty of a fairly small offence, and has no previous convictions, he may receive no punishment at all, but be told that if he does wrong again the first offence will be taken into account along with the next.
Apart from imprisonment there is a range of noncustodial sentences that the courts can impose. Suspended sentences can only be applied to an offence which carries a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment or less. During the period that the sentence stays suspended, the offender is obliged to remain of good behaviour - that is not to commit another offence.
A different form of supervision is the probation order. No sentence is involved in this case; the offender is left at liberty, but is obliged to report regularly to a probation officer, who is a trained professional worker. A probation order will be for a period of between one and three years.
A further variation within non-custodial sentencing is that of Community Service Order. The court may order any offender over the age of 16 to undertake specific, unpaid work that will be of benefit to the community over a period of twelve months for a minimum of 40 hours and a maximum of 240. Any break of the order by the offender will make him liable to fines or other punishments of course; the common form of non-custodial punishment is that of monetary deprivation - the fine. The courts may attach a number of conditions to fines for example, the offender may be required to have a regular sum deducted from the weekly or monthly earnings; he or she may be supervised by a probation officer. The offender may also be made the subject of a compensation order for injury or damage suffered by another person as a result of his or her wrong-doing) or a restoration order (returning stolen goods or goods bought out of the proceeds of stolen property).
Punishment by the state can only be justified if there are in its objective two key elements, namely the reduction of crime and the promotion of respect for the criminal code.