Complete the sentences using the information from the text.

1) Crimes are considered injurious to …

2) Actus reus may be accomplished by …

3) Where the actus reus is a failure to act…

4) A guilty mind means …

5) Unless the act of which a defendant is accused is expressly defined by statute as a crime…

III. VOCABULARY STUDY

1. In the text “Definition and Elements of the Crime” find the antonyms for the following words:

innocent, harmless, exclude, right, illegally, liberal, insignificant.

Choose the words which best complete the text below.

The criminal law generally prohibits undesirable 1)______________. Thus, proof of a 2)______________ requires proof of some act. Scholars label this the requirement of an actus reus or 3)______________ act. Some crimes require no more, and they are known as strict liability offenses. Nevertheless, because of the potentially severe consequences of criminal conviction, judges at common law also sought proof of an 4)______________ to do some bad thing, the 5)______________ rea or guilty mind. As to crimes of which both actus reus and mens rea are requirements, judges have concluded that the elements must be present at precisely the same moment and it is not enough that they occurred sequentially at different times.

1) a. acts b thoughts c. words

2) a. law b. indictment c. crime

3) a guilty b. motive c. innocent

4) a. crime b. intent c. wrongful

5) a. actus b. mens d. reus

 

In the sentences below complete the de-voweled legal terms with the missed letters.

1) A "crime" is any act or __m__ ss__ __n in violation of a public l__w forbidding or commanding it.

2) Though there are some common law cr__m__s, most crimes in the United States are established by local, state, and federal governments.

3) American cr__m__n__l laws vary significantly from state to state.

4) In the USA there is a Model P__n__l Code (MPC) which serves as a good starting place to gain an understanding of the basic structure of criminal l__ __b__l__t__.
5) Crimes include both f__l__n__ __s (more serious __ff__ns__s like murder or rape) and misdemeanors (less serious offenses like petty th__ft or jaywalking).

6) Felonies are usually crimes punishable by imprisonment of a year or more, while m__sd__m__ __n__rs are crimes punishable by less than a year.

7) No act is a crime if it has not been previously established as such either by st__t__t__ or c__mm__n law.

4. Give the English equivalents for the following word combinations:

Злочин, правопорушення, суспільно небезпечна дія, бездіяльність, обвинувачуваний, умисел, суспільно небезпечний умисел, обвинувальний висновок, засудження.

5. Translate the articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

Стаття 162. Порушення недоторканності житла

1. Незаконне проникнення до житла чи до іншого володіння особи, незаконне проведення в них огляду чи обшуку, а так само незаконне виселення чи інші дії, що порушують недоторканність житла громадян, - караються штрафом від п'ятдесяти до ста неоподатковуваних мінімумів доходів громадян або виправними роботами на строк до двох років, або обмеженням волі на строк до трьох років.

2. Ті самі дії, вчинені службовою особою або із застосуванням насильства чи з погрозою його застосування, - караються позбавленням волі на строк від двох до п'яти років.

 

IV. GRAMMAR FOCUS

1. Complete the following word combinations with the correct prepositions. Find and read the sentences with these word combination in the text “Definition and Elements of the Crime”

 

by under to through of by to

 

Punishable ______________ the state, injurious ______________ society, breach ______________ contract, as defined ______________ law, arise ______________ contract, intention ______________ commit some wrongful act, ______________ criminal law

V. SPEAKING

1. Look at the diagram showing the crime statistic in the USA. Then answer the following questions:

What crimes are considered violent?

What crimes are property crimes?

What are the most frequent crimes in the USA? Were the most frequent crimes the same in 1999 and 2007?

What are the least frequent crimes in the USA?

Were the least frequent crimes the same in 1999 and 2007?

How had the crime rate changed by the year of 2007? Which crimes became more frequent / less frequent?

	Diagram 1 Reported Crimes in the United States Although the exact number of crimes that occur in the United States is unknown, criminal activity can be gauged by the incidents reported to law enforcement. The Crime Index is composed of selected offenses and is used to monitor fluctuations in the overall volume and rate of reported crime. Totals are based on data from all reporting agencies and estimates for unreported areas.   Population 272,691,000 288,368,698 Crime index total^2 11,635,100 11,877,218 Violent crime^3 1,430,690 1,426,325 Property crime^4 10,204,500 10,450,893 Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 15,530 16,204 Forcible rape 89,110 95,136 Robbery 409,670 420,637 Aggravated assault 916,380 894,348 Burglary 2,099,700 2,151,875 Larceny-theft 6,957,400 7,052,922 Motor vehicle theft 1,147,300 1,246,096   1) Populations are Bureau of the Census provisional estimates as of July 1, except 2000, which are the decennial census counts. 2) Offenses may not add up to totals due to rounding. 3) Violent crimes are the offenses of murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. 4) Property crimes are the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. Data for arson are not included.
	Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Unit 2 Crimes and Criminals Section 2 Classification of Crimes

I. LEAD-IN

How are crimes classified in the Ukrainian legislation?

2. Match the following English words and expressions with their Ukrainian equivalents:

 

	felony		порушення прав інших осіб
	misdemeanor		винність
	culpability		кримінальний злочин
	infringe on the rights of others		засудження парламентом винного в державній зраді
	acts of attainder		кримінальний проступок

How many syllables are there in the following words? Which of the syllables is stressed in each of them?

Misdemeanors, circumstances, imprisonment, culpability, naturally, antitrust, legislature, authority, Amendment, administrative, retroactively.

 

TEXT 2

4. Read the text and tell:

- what information is new for you;

- what you have already known about types and classification of crimes.

Classification of Crimes

Crimes are usually classified as treason, felony, or misdemeanor. The fundamental distinction between felonies and misdemeanors rests with the penalty and the power of imprisonment. In general, a misdemeanor is an offence for which a punishment other than death or imprisonment in the state prison is prescribed by law. The term "degree of crime" refers to distinctions in the culpability of an offense because of the circumstances surrounding its commission. Crimes are sometimes divided according to their nature into crimes mala in se and crimes mala prohibita; the former class comprises those acts that are thought to be immoral or wrong in themselves, or naturally evil, such as murder, rape, arson, burglary, larceny, and the like; the latter class embraces those acts that are not naturally evil but are prohibited by statute because they infringe on the rights of others (e.g., acts in restraint of trade that have been made criminal under antitrust legislation). For example, in the United States, the power to define crimes and set punishment for them rests with the legislatures of the United States, the several states, and the territories, the principal authority being that of the individual states. This power in the states is restricted by the federal Constitution, e.g., in the Fourteenth Amendment and in prohibitions against acts of attainder (an act of attainder is a legislative declaration that a particular individual is guilty of a crime) and against ex post facto laws (laws that retroactively declare certain actions to be criminal). State constitutions may also limit state legislative action. The courts cannot look further into the propriety of a penal statute than to ascertain whether the legislature has the power to enact it. Administrative rules may have the force of law, and violations of such rules are punishable as public offenses, provided that the legislature has made such violations misdemeanors.

I. DEVELOPMENT