Text 5. The English and American Constitutions

Differences between the English and American Constitutions:

1. In America the President is in practice more of a ruler than the English King but his legal powers are more restricted.

2. The President can veto legislation, and the English King has legally an absolute but in practice a very shadowy power of veto which has not been exercised since long times.

3. The English Constitution is flexible, the American — rigid, i.e. in England all laws can be altered with ease, and in America complicated machinery is necessary for the alteration of the Constitution.

The American Constitution is written; the English Constitution is unwritten.

5. The English Crown is inherited; the American President is elected for a term.

6. The American President is not dependent on the vote of the Congress; in England the Cabinet is dependent on the vote of the House of Commons. In America, therefore, the Executive is not responsible to the Legislature. England is the only country possessing hereditary legislators.

 

· Answer the following questions.

1. Who is more of a ruler in practice: the President in America or the English King?

2. Does the English King (Queen) have a power of veto?

3. Can the English laws be altered with ease?

4. In which document can you find the whole of the Constitution of Britain?

5. Is the English King (Queen) elected?

6. Who is dependent on the vote of the Congress?

7. What is the only country possessing hereditary legislators?

Text 6. ENGLISH CRIMINAL LAW

 

Criminal Law is that part of the law of the land which is concerned with crimes.

The English criminal law has never been reduced to a single code but many particular topics have been codified by separate statutes, for example, the Larceny Act (1916), which deals with various forms of theft and related offences such as fraudulent conversion and the offences against the Person Act (1861), which covers many forms of assault and personal violence. Criminal statutes call for judicial interpretation, just as a comprehensive criminal code would do, and authoritative rulings by the courts on the meaning of statutes are as much part of the criminal law as are the statutes themselves.

A crime, according to the doctrine of the Common Law, is made up of an outward act and the state of mind of the criminal. He must have a guilty mind or *mens rea, in addition to committing the physical act which is forbidden. This doctrine of mens rea is still of importance, particularly in some Common Law crimes, but in many statutory crimes it has ceased to be of much significance. Every crime, it may be said, has its own kind of guilty mind. This clearly exists if the intention is to commit the criminal act, knowing it to be such, but every person is taken to intend the probable consequences of his act and so a person who treats another so violently that he jumps out of a window to escape and is killed by the fall is guilty of murder. Sometimes mens rea may take the form of negligence or mental inadvertence, as in manslaughter by neglect. Then the mental state must be proved to exist, as in the crime of burglary. In the case of murder the necessary mens rea is expressed by the phrase “malice aforethought”. This phrase does not imply that murder can be committed only if it is premeditated. Nor need malice in the ordinary sense of spite or ill-will be present in the mind of the murderer. An act is said in the criminal law to be done maliciously if it is done intentionally without a just cause for excuse.

*mens rea – лат. виновная воля, вина

 

· Find the words in the text below that mean:

……………………..	- to bring down or lower	……………………..	- a logical result or effect
……………………..	- a violent attack	……………………..	- a plan, idea, or purpose
……………………..	- the crime of stealing	……………………..	- carelessness
……………………..	- towards the outside	……………………..	- the desire to do harm or cause mischief to others
……………………..	- acting with intent to deceive	……………………..	- something done unintentionally
……………………..	- to bring or come to an end	……………………..	- not deliberately planned killing
……………………..	- ill-will	……………………..	- premeditated

Text 7. THE GARDEN CITY OF ASIA

 

Singapore welcomes visitors and tourists. Please respect the laws of this country. Here are some points to remember:

 

SMOKING: Cigarette smoking is a danger to health. It is prohibited in lifts, cinemas, theatres and all government offices and on buses. Fines of up to $500.

LITTER: Singapore is the Garden City of Asia -clean and green. Dropping litter in public places is forbidden. You can be fined up to $500 for dropping litter - even if it is only a sweet wrapper or a cigarette end.

LONG HAIR: Male visitors should not have hair longer than the top of their shirt collar. Long-haired men will be served last of all in government offices.

DRUGS: You can be fined or put in prison for possessing illegal drugs. The penalty for possessing and trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin or morphine is death.

GAMBLING: Only official horserace betting and lotteries are permitted. No other forms of gambling are allowed - even in private houses.

JAYWALKING: You must always use the pedestrian crossings. You can be fined $50 for crossing the street less than 50 metres from a crossing, or for crossing on the red man. These laws also apply to children who are old enough to be in the street on their own.

 

· Right, wrong or don't know?

a) Tourists do not have to follow these laws.

b) It is illegal to smoke in Singapore.

c) You can be fined $500 for smoking on a bus.

d) Dropping litter carries the death penalty.

e) It is illegal to have long hair in Singapore.

f) Women with long hair are served last in government offices.

g) You can be executed for buying and selling heroin.

h) You are only allowed to gamble in your own home.

i) Children are not allowed to cross the road on their own.

j) You should cross the road only when the pedestrian light is green.

 

Text 8. A VERY BEAUTIFUL STORY

 

· Read two dialogues of the policemen discussing Gentleman Jim's cassette recording.

 

Part 1.

Inspector: Morning, Sergeant. What have you got for me today?

Sergeant: We've got that tape from Gentleman Jim, sir. It was sent to us yesterday. They want to know if it's all right to send it to his wife.

Inspector: And is it?

Sergeant: I don't know sir. I'm sure there's a message hidden in the tape, but I don't know what it is. It's been examined by half the police force in London, and nothing was found. But there is something very peculiar about that tape.

Inspector: Well, what is it?

Sergeant: Well, sir, he talks about happy memories and things. And really, Inspector, I don't think Gentleman Jim really feels like that about anything. I don't think he means any of it. I'm sure there is something else on the tape, and it's hidden in what he says. But I can't find it.

Inspector: The tape is all right, is it? It wasn't tampered with when Gentleman Jim recorded the message?

Sergeant: Right you are sir, it's waiting for you.

Jim: Hello, my dear wife. I want you to listen very carefully to this recording. Play it over and over again, and enjoy all the beautiful things I want to remind you about. Don't worry about me, just think about the beautiful things, and I'm sure you will be very happy, and you will find something very comforting in my words. Are you ready? I want to remind you of some really happy memories. Do you remember the day when we first met? You were very beautiful. There was a lot of sunshine that day, do you remember? There aren't many girls who are very beautiful, are there? But you were lovely. And our children. They' re very beautiful. Two lovely girls and a handsome boy, although they’re all in prison now. I remember when our son was small, he had lovely blue eyes and very beautiful gold curly hair. Do you remember the toys he used to play with? I remember his teddy bear, and also some very beautiful bricks which he used to play with on the bedroom floor. Those were happy days.

Do you remember, dear wife, the first dance we went to? You wore a blue dress and you looked very beautiful in the moonlight, and we danced until the morning, and then I took you home on my motorbike. Your mother was waiting for us, and she looked very beautiful. The next day I asked you to marry me. I don't think your mother was very pleased. She wanted us to buy the house next to her, do you remember? But we wanted a bigger house, with a very beautiful garden and we found one. I like our house very much. I remember coming home one day in the winter, and looking at our house. It looked very beautiful under the white snow, and I knew that you were waiting in the kitchen with a cup of hot soup and my dear friend Ginger. Poor Ginger. He has been in prison, too. He says that you are very beautiful.

The important thing in prison is to have happy memories. And I've got wonderful memories. Do you remember Ginger's cat? It was a very beautiful big black cat. Ginger liked it very much. He bought it fish to eat, and a very beautiful red ribbon, which he tied around its neck. I always liked Ginger's cat.

I'm sorry I did not want to see you when you came. I wanted to send you this message instead. When I come home, I will buy you some expensive perfume, or very beautiful things. And walk into the country, sit down beside the river, under a very beautiful tree, and think about me. Your loving Gentleman Jim.

Inspector: Is that all?

Sergeant: Yes, that's all.

Inspector: You' re quite right. There is something very peculiar about that message.

 

Part 2.

Inspector: Well, I think Gentleman Jim has hidden a message in the tape.

Sergeant: Yes sir, so do I. He keeps telling his wife to play the message over and over again.

Inspector: He tells her that she'll find something. What do you think he means by that?

Sergeant: Well sir, perhaps there is money hidden somewhere, and this message tells his wife where to look?

Inspector: I wish he' d tell us where to look. Then perhaps we'd find the message.

Sergeant: I think he has told us, Inspector.

Inspector: What do you mean?

 

· Work out Gentleman Jim's message. Have you got any idea? If not, read the end of the dialogue.

Sergeant: Well, did you notice that he keeps saying the same words over again?

Inspector: Yes, of course. He says everything is very beautiful.

Sergeant: Mm, that's right. And he tells his wife to think about these beautiful things. That must be a clue.

Inspector: Well, what does he say? His wife is beautiful, the girls are beautiful, his son is beautiful and the bricks were beautiful...

Sergeant: That's a very funny thing to say.

Inspector: Yes, it is. But wife, girls, son, bricks. It doesn't make any sense. ‘Very beautiful bricks,’ he said. It's nonsense!

Sergeant: Just a minute. Do you remember what Gentleman Jim said at the end of the recording?

Inspector: What was that?

Sergeant: He said, “think about what came after all these beautiful things.” I think that's the answer, Inspector. Play it again, and every time he says “very beautiful” write down the next word. I think we'll find Gentleman Jim's message.

Inspector: Right Sergeant. That's very clever of you. Well done!

· When the police had worked out the message, they went to Gentleman Jim's house. Here is a list of things that had happened. Can you sort it out so that it makes sense?

a) The house had disappeared.

b) His wife was sleeping in the kennel.

c) The dog was empty.

d) The gold was in prison.

e) The rosebush was chasing mice.

f) His motorbike had been pulled out of the ground.

g) Ginger's cat had packed her clothes and gone to France.

h) His son was in the hole by the rosebush saying, “You are too late, I have gone to France with Ginger.”

i) A note had been driven away.

 

· There were lots of stolen things hidden in Gentleman Jim's house. The names are hidden in the sentences below. Can you find them?

 

For example: We went to the bea ch in a taxi. china

a) I keep hearing something.

b) He is getting old.

c) You are on Mike's side, and I am on David's side.

d) He can play as much music as he likes.

e) He is very good, you know, at chess.

f) I gave him one yesterday.

g) There's a taxicab race, let's get out of the way.