The Innocent and the Guilty.

Imagine, if you can, that you have been arrested for something like shoplifting, or for dangerous driving, or for getting drunk and causing "a disturbance of the peace". You are in a Magistrates Court now.

You, "the accused", are in a kind of large, open box. The sides come up almost to your chin. It is on a raised platform almost in the center of the court and is called "the dock". You are "in the dock". There are three magistrates "on the bench" in front of you. At least one of them is a woman. They are also on a raised platform, at desks, side by side. In front of and below them there is another man. He is the "Clerk of the Court" and he, unlike them, is trained in the law and is paid for his work. During your case he will handle the administrative details and perhaps give advice to the Magistrates on legal points.

The case begins. The policeman who arrested you gives evidence. He reads details from a small black notebook that he always carries. He tells the court when and why he arrested you, what you said, what he said, and so on. Your solicitor questions, or "cross-examines" him. One of the Magistrates speaking for all three, also asks questions. Other witnesses appear. Perhaps you yourself say nothing at all. You do not have to speak in your defense. "Everyone is innocent unless proved guilty". In other words, you do not have to prove that you are innocent. The police have to prove you are guilty.

At the end the Magistrates probably do not even go out of the court. They discuss your case in low voices in front of you. You try to hear, but cannot Then the Clerk of the Court tells you to stand. The Magistrate who has done the talking for the others tells you whether they have found you innocent or guilty. He can sentence you to no more than six months in goal for one offence, to a maximum of one year for two or more offences or to a fine of 400 pounds.

More serious cases are heard in the Crown Court, where the Judge is always a legal expert and is also paid for his work. In the Crown Court you may, if you choose, be given a "trial by jury". Twelve ordinary people like yourself judge you. But the Judge himself always decides on the sentence.

Reporters for local newspapers often go to Magistrates' Courts; the next day articles appear in the paper and full names, ages, addresses and details of the case are given. Find such an article if you can from an English local newspaper. It will give you an idea of the kind of cases that can be tried in such a court.

 

1. What are the names of at least three offences (less serious than crimes) for which people are tried in a Magistrates' Court.

2. What exactly is meant by "the dock"?

3. If you are "in the dock", what and who do you see is front of you?

4. If you are the accused, describe what these people will do during your case.

a. the policeman who arrested you

b. your solicitor

c. one of the three Magistrates

d. the other two Magistrates

e. witnesses

Task 12. Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents.

1. evidence in the case	a) вещественное доказательство
2. evidence on oath	b) давать показания, представить показания
3. to give/offer/introduce/produce evidence	c) доказательства вины, улики
4. to plant evidence	d) доказательства или показания по делу
5. to weigh evidence	e) доказательства, показания, полученные с нарушением закона
6. to withhold evidence	f) доказательство из первых рук
7. evidence wrongfully obtained	g) заключения эксперта
8. evidence of quilt	h) косвенное доказательство
9. circumstantial evidence	i) лжесвидетельство
10. conclusive/decisive evidence	j) ложное доказательство, показание
11. expert evidence	k) недостаточное доказательство
12. false evidence	l) неопровержимое доказательство
13. first hand evidence	m) окончательное, решающее доказательство
14. insufficient evidence	n) оценить доказательства
15. irrefutable evidence	o) показания под присягой
16. perjured evidence	p) скрыть доказательства
17. physical evidence	q) сфабриковать доказательства

UNIT III.

CRIME.

TASK I. Read the text, consulting the glossary where necessary.

Murder

The abolition of capital punishment in England in November 1965 was welcomed by most people with humane and progressive ideas. To them it seemed a departure from feudalism, from the cruel pre-Christian spirit of revenge: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Many of these people think differently now. Three unarmed policemen have been killed in London by bandits who shot them down in cold blood. This crime has drawn attention to the fact that since, the abolition of capital punishment crime - and especially murder - has been on increase throughout Britain. Today, therefore, public opinion in Britain has changed. People who before, also in Parliament, stated that capital punishment was not a deterrent to murder - for there have always been murders in all countries with or without the law of execution - now feel that killing the assassin is the lesser of two evils. Capital punishment, they think, may not be the ideal answer, but it is better than nothing, especially when, as in England, a sentence of "lifelong" imprisonment (a life sentence, as it is called) only lasts eight or nine years.

All this is very controversial. And all the arguments for and against can be refuted in practice. The problem remains - the problem of how to prevent.murders. Some murders are committed by criminals evading arrest, by insane or mentally disturbed people, by cold-blooded sadists completely devoid of all human feelings. The important thing in the prevention of murder is to eliminate as far as possible the weapons and instruments, the guns and knives, with which these crimes are committed, and furthermore to stop the dangerous influence of violence in books, films, television and other mass media, from which so many criminals derive their "inspiration".