X. Translate the sentences from Russian into English.

1. В 1853 году ссылка была заменена каторжными работами и это наказание длилось три года или больше.

2. Телесное наказание, наложенное судом включало: побои, порку, клеймение, и публичное унижение у позорного столба.

3. Продолжительность жизни в средневековой Англии составляла в среднем 30 лет, особенно если учесть, что при рождении ребенка было наиболее вероятно потерять и мать и ребенка.

4. Последним человеком высокого происхождения, приговоренным к такой жестокой казни, был Лорд Феррерс. Посмотреть на его казнь собралось столько народу, что телега доставляющая его на эшафот добиралась до него несколько часов.

5. Суд, вершимый над духовенством, редко выносил решения о смертной казни. Любой человек, который мог прочитать 51 Псалом, ассоциировался со святым, так как мало кто в то время вообще умел читать. Этот метод избежания наказания был известен как "неподсудность духовенства светскому суду".

6. Дорожный грабитель Джек Шепард стал в свое время легендой и народным героем за дерзкие побеги из тюрьмы. Ему удалось бежать 4 раза, на пятый он был казнен в присутствии 20,000 зрителей.

 

Speaking

Exercises

 

I. Say if the following statements are true or false. Explain why.

 

1. For the most history punishment has been both painful and public in order to act as an entertainment to other.

2. Violent punishments were very common but were not accepted as a normal way of life.

3. Human beings have unfortunately proved to be at their most imaginative and inventive when it has come to inflicting punishment upon their fellow men and women.

4. In ancient Greece the custom of allowing a condemned man to end his own life by poison was extended only to full citizens.

5. At various stages of our history, many people were killed for their disheveled appearance and so become martyrs for their faith.

6. It would seem that in each age, as the treatment of criminals reached a climax of harshness and brutality, society somehow reacted to it and developed a way of reliving the terrible barbarities.

7. In the eighteenth century there was quite literally a prison fleet – of prison ships known as submarines.

8. Long-term imprisonment became a common form of punishment, this was particularly so in the 17th and 18^th centuries, with the domestic prison service being unable to cope with all prisoners.

 

II. Answer these questions about the text.

1. What were the conditions in which people live in medieval England? How did they influence the punishments?

2. How can you characterize the trial of Suffolk witches?

3. What do you know about “Gregorian Tree”?

4. Why was Jack Ketch so famous?

5. What is the essence of the defence of insanity?

6. What was a so-called “judicial murder”?

7. What is the origin of a phrase “hangers-on”?

8. Why did executions in England never lack “theatre”?

9. What is the benefit of clergy, who could use it in medieval England and how?

10. Was it possible to escape death penalty? How?

11. In what prisons were people kept and what were the conditions?

12. How did people try to reform the prisons?

13. What were the crimes for which transportation was imposed?

14. What is penal servitude? What were the stages of it in medieval time?

15. What did the corporal punishment include?

 

III. Discuss these issues.

1. Capital punishment through the ages.

2. Defence of insanity.

3. Benefit of clergy.

4. Imprisonment through the ages.

5. Prison reform.

6. Transportation.

7. Corporal punishment.

 

VI. Find the information in the Internet on the following themes and make presentation in class.

 

1. The history of punishments in Russia.
2. The history of punishments in other European countries.

 

 

Chapter XVII

Criminal Trials Today

 

Vocabulary List

 

1. arraignment - привлечение к суду; предъявление обвинения
2. accusation - обвинение; обвинительное заключение, обвинительный акт

3. opening speech - вступительная речь, вступительное слово

4. evidence - основание; факты, данные; доказательство, подтверждение; свидетельство; улика; свидетельское показание

5. closing speech - заключительная речь, заключительное слово

6. (judge’s) summing-up - заключительная речь судьи; напутственное слово присяжным

7. allege - утверждать, заявлять о факте; утверждать безосновательно, бездоказательно; ссылаться (в оправдание, в доказательство), приписывать

8. open court - открытое судебное заседание, открытый суд

9. inquisitorial system – инквизиционная / инквизиторская система

1. adversarial system – состязательная (соперничающая; противостоящая (друг другу) система

11. plead guilty - признавать себя виновным

1. plead not guilty - сделать в суде заявление о своей невиновности, заявлять о своей невиновности; ходатайствовать об оправдании подсудимого
2. affirm – подтверждать; утверждать, одобрять (обычно решение суда); поддерживать, упрочивать, усиливать; (публично) заявлять о поддержке, демонстрировать уважение; давать в суде обещание говорить правду
3. challenge sb = to object to sb - давать отвод (присяжному, свидетелю, свидетельскому показанию)
4. swear (swore; sworn) an oath (on the holy book) - приносить присягу на священной книге

16. the examination in chief - первоначальный опрос свидетеля выставившей стороной

17. leading question - наводящий вопрос

18. hearsay evidence - показания с чужих слов; свидетельство, основанное на слухах

1. test in cross-examination – проверять в перекрёстном допросе; подвергать испытанию, проверке в перекрёстном допросе

20. the re-examination - повторный допрос/опрос свидетелей

1. make a submission (argument) - представление, подача (документа); передача на рассмотрение; соглашение о передаче спора в арбитраж, третейская запись
2. a submission of no case – аргумент/ довод о том, что нет оснований для привлечения к ответственности; ходатайство об отсутствии оснований для привлечения к ответственности
3. perjury - клятвопреступление, лжесвидетельство (намеренная дача ложных показаний во время следствия или на суде)

24. reach a unanimous verdict - вынести вердикт единогласно

25. a majority verdict - вердикт большинства

26. a verdict of not proven – вердикт «невиновен за отсутствием доказательств»

1. a pre-sentence report - доклад о личности и обстоятельствах жизни подсудимого (представляется вниманию суда перед вынесением приговора)
2. a plea in mitigation - заявление, сделанное в суде одной из сторон, о смягчении, уменьшении вины, наказания

29. sentence the defendant = make judgement = pass judgement = render judgement - приговорить ответчика/ обвиняемого/ подсудимого

30. give a judgement - вынести судебное решение

31. televising trial – судебный процесс, показываемый по телевизору

32. vital evidence - существенно важное (для решения по делу) доказательство

33. do justice - отправлять правосудие

34. jeopardize - подвергать риску/опасности (в т.ч. уголовной ответственности)

35. deter a witness from doing sth – сдерживать/ удерживать/ останавливать свидетеля от ч-л.; удерживать от совершения чего-л. (с помощью средств устрашения)

36. on oath - под присягой

Vocabulary Notes

 

1. The Central Criminal Court - The Old Bailey, also known as Justice Hall, the SessionsHouse, was named after the street in which it was located, just off Newgate Street and next to Newgate Prison, in the western part of the City of London. Over the centuries the building has been periodically remodelled and rebuilt in ways which both reflected and influenced the changing ways trials were carried out and reported [www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/The-old-bailey]. - Центральный уголовный суд; Олд-Бейли (традиционное название центрального уголовного суда).

2. The Recorder of London - The most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court has the title of Recorder of London, and his deputy has the title of Common Serjeant of London [www.law-glossary.com/definition/Recorder-of-London]ю

3. The Master of the Rolls - The Master of the Rolls is one of the Heads of Division and is Head of Civil Justice. As the leading judge dealing with the civil work of the Court of Appeal, he or she presides over the most difficult and sensitive cases. As a Head of Division and Member of the Privy Council, the Master of the Rolls is given the prefix 'Right Honourable' [www.judiciary.gov.uk/about-the-judiciary/the-judiciary-in-detail/judicial+roles/judges/profile-mor].

4. the Criminal Evidence Act 1898 - Prior to the introduction of the Criminal Evidence Act 1898 defendants were not allowed to give evidence at trial. The introduction of this Act made it so that all defendants can now be regarded as competent but not compellable. Co-defendants are also competent but cannot be compelled to give evidence against the co-accused [www.ukessays.com/essays/law/witness-evidence-defendant].

5. the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) - Part I Powers to Stop and Search; Part II Powers of Entry, Search and Seizure; Part III Arrest; Part IV Detention; Part V Questioning and Treatment of Persons by Police; Part VI Codes of Practice – General; Part VII Documentary Evidence in Criminal Proceedings [www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/60/contents].

6. the Criminal Justice Act 2003 - An Act to make provision about criminal justice (including the powers and duties of the police) and about dealing with offenders; to amend the law relating to jury service; to amend Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Part 5 of the Police Act 1997; to make provision about civil proceedings brought by offenders; and for connected purposes [20th November 2003] [www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/44/contents].

7. the Law Commission - the Law Commission is the statutory independent body created by the Law Commissions Act 1965 to keep the law under review and to recommend reform where it is needed. The Law Commission is an advisory non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice [www.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission/index].

8. the Clerk of the Court - A court clerk (British English clerk to the court; American English clerk of the court or clerk of court) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining the records of a court. Another duty is to administer oaths to witnesses, jurors, and grand jurors. Traditionally, the clerk also was the custodian of the court's seal, which is used to authenticate copies of the court's orders, judgments and other records [www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_clerk].

 

Reading Comprehension

Exercises

 

I. Scanning

 

1. Look through 5 vitally important principles of justice which govern every criminal case that are described in the beginning of the part THE STAGES OF A CIMINAL TRIAL and enumerate concepts connected with the concept of justice.

2. Look through the part THE STAGES OF A CIMINAL TRIAL and enumerate the duties of the judge and the duties of the jury.

3. Scan the subpart SWEARING IN THE JURY and name the musts of any person for swearing in the jury.

4. Look through the subpart PROSECUTION EVIDENCE, compare 3 stages of giving evidence and find the similarities and differences in 3 stages.

 

evidence type	examination in chief	cross-examination	re-examination
participants
procedure
specific feature

II. Skimming

1. Read quickly the part COMPARING CRIMINAL AND CIVIL TRIALS and summarize in a short way the differences of the criminal and civil trials.

2. Skim the part TELEVISING TRIALS and name the set forth minuses and the pluses of televising trial.

3. Look more thoroughly through the part VERDICT and decide what it is devoted to.

a. the enumeration of certain types of verdicts

b. the procedure of considering and reaching the verdict

c. the roles and obligations of the participants of the verdict process

 

4. Look more closely through the subpart DOUBLE JEOPARDY and decide which of the following statements renders the main idea of the given part.

a. retrials are now allowed if there is new and compelling evidence

b. a new law on double jeopardy came into force in the United Kingdom in 2005

c. benefits and disadvantages of double jeopardy

 

Vocabulary Work

Exercises