English для юристов. Гончар

Module 7 Unit 2

Text: Punishment

Vocabulary in use

Pre reading tasks

1. Do you agree with the statements:

The main purpose of law is to protect but not to punish;

“Whosoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed”;

The punishment cell is never vacant?

Discuss your answer with your partners.

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

Reading tasks

1. Read the text to understand what information is of primary im portance or new for you.

Note on the text:

Genesis — Буття, перша книга Старого Заповіту (Ge5 nesis, the first book of the Bible, tells of the beginning of the world from the time when «God created the heaven and the earth» (1:1) until the death of Joseph, the 11th son of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob. The book falls into two unequal parts. The first part (chapters 1511) is concerned with the primeval history of humankind and contains

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stories about the first man and the first woman, their disobedience, the first murderer and his victim, the flood that God sent to destroy all things save the immediate fa5 mily of one «just man» (6:9) and the creatures commit5 ted to him for preservation, and the confounding of the speech and scattering abroad of later people. The first part of Genesis also contains the first covenant made by God with humanity in the person of Noah (9:9517). The se5 cond part (chapters 12550) is mainly an account of the lives of the Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that is, a history of the origins of the Hebrew nation).

PUNISHMENT

Punishment, in modern criminal law, is a penalty inflicted by the state upon a person for committing a criminal offence.

In early societies punishment for a crime was left to the person wronged or to his or her or tribe. The punishments inflicted were characteristically cruel, and, by modern standards, out of proportion to the offence committed. Torture and capital punishment, prevalent early forms of punishment, evolved largely from old beliefs in vengeance. With the g5 rowing complexity of society and the centralization of governments, the right to punish was taken from the offended party and vested in the state.

Only at the end of the 18th century significant call for improved criminal procedure arise. Punishment came to be thought of not only as express vindication but also as a means of protecting the laws from abuse by individual members of the society. Deterrence and separation from society, rather than revenge, became the principal purposes of punishment, with the degree of penalty adjusted to reflect the nature of the crime. Ensuing reforms reduced the number of capital crimes, restricted corporal punishment, and virtually abolished mutilation, replacing most of these harsh measures with imprisonment. Emphasis began to be placed on rehabilitation for the good of society and the individual, rather than on punishment for its own sake.

The issue of punishment versus benign corrective treatment has persisted to this day. Arguments against punishment cite its essentially vindictive and peremptorily negative nature; its effects are viewed as ineffective and perhaps even destructive. Proponents of legal punishment, on the other hand, stress its value as a sobering deterrent to those criminally inclined and, in the case of imprisonment for its own sake, as a means for protecting society from chronic or dangerous lawbreakers. Criminal codes of the different countries vary with regard to specific penalties that may be imposed for crimes.

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Part ІI. BASIC COURSE

In modern law the most severe form of punishment is capital punishment, legal infliction of the death penalty. The usual alternative to the death penalty is long5term or life imprisonment.

The classic moral arguments in favour of the death penalty have been biblical and retributive. «Whosoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed» (Genesis 9:6) has usually been interpreted as a divine warrant for putting the murderer to death. «Let the punishment fit the crime» is its secular counterpart; both maxims imply that the murderer deserves to die. Proponents of capital punishment have also claimed that society has the right to kill in defence of its members, just as the individual may kill in self5defence. The analogy to self5defence, however, is somewhat doubtful, as long as the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent to violent crimes has not been proved.

Critics of the death penalty have always pointed to the risk of executing the innocent, although definitely established cases of this sort in recent years are rare. They have also argued that one can accept a retributive theory of punishment without necessarily resorting to the death penalty; proportioning the severity of punishment to the gravity of the crime does not require the primitive rule of «a life for a life.»

Nowadays many countries of the world have abolished the death penalty. The most severe form of punishment in Ukraine is life imprisonment.

2.A. Explain the meanings of the following words according to the text:

•Punishment is …

•Versus (abbr.) means…

B. Answer the questions:

1.What arguments do opponents of legal punishment present?

2.What arguments do proponents of legal punishment present?

3.What kinds of punishment are mentioned in the text?

4.What arguments do opponents of death penalty present?

5.What moral arguments do proponents of death penalty present?

3.WORD STUDY. Here are some words connected with law, punishment and crime. Revise the law5breakers (5.3). If necessary, use a dictionary

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to help you check that you understand what they all mean. Then divide them into three groups, in what seems to you to be the most logical way.

4.PREPOSITIONS. Choose the right preposition in brackets according to the contents of the sentences (from, in, on, at, of, for).

1.The UN has declared itself … favour … abolition, Amnesty Interna5 tional actively campaigns for abolition, and now the issue is the focus of great debate.

2.The length of sentences varies … a few days to a lifetime.

3.The judge sentenced my neighbor to punishment … the crime which he hadn’t committed.

4.The Crown Prosecutor, who works for the Director of Public P5 rosecutions, is responsible … prosecuting criminals based on evidence presented by the police

5.… recent years the phenomenon of death row (people sentenced but still alive) increases.

6.I believe that my friend is innocent because he killed … self5defense.

7.… the one hand the judge is fair; … the other hand this measure is rather harsh.

8.… the end if 18th century in England there was the case when the penalty for theft was supposed to frighten people from stealing and compensate for inabilities to detect and catch thieves.

BUILD UP YOUR VOCABULARY

5.WORD FAMILIES: give the chain of derivatives for the words below: Model: effect effective5effectiveness5ineffectiveness

severe, deter, murder, inflict, severe

6.Match the adjectives in column A with the nouns in column B:

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b) match the verbs in column A with the nouns in column B:

c) match the following synonyms and try to guess the differences in their meanings. Compose your sentences to illustrate the usage of these words:

7.Civil and Criminal Penalties

A. Put each of the following words or phrases in its correct place below and in appropriate form.

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There are several kinds of punishment available to court. In civil cases the most common punishment is … .

For criminal offences fines are also often used when the offense is not a serious one and when the offender has not been in trouble before. Another kind of punishment is available in some countries is … … .

This requires the offender to certain amount of unpaid work, usually for a social institution such as hospital. For more serious crimes the usual punishment is …. .

Some prison sentences are ….: the offender is not sent to prison if keeps out of trouble for a fixed period of time, but if he does offend again both suspended sentence and any new one will …. . The length of sentences … from a few days to a lifetime. However, a life sentence may allow the prisoner … after a suitably long period if a review (parole) board agrees his detention no longer serves a purpose. In some coun5 tries, such as the Netherlands, living conditions in prison fairly good because it is felt that deprivation of liberty is punishment in itself and should so … that it … the possibility of the re5educating and reforming himself. In other countries, conditions are rather bad. Britain and the USA are trying to solve the shortage of space by allowing private companies to open prisons.

In some countries there is also … … (physical). In Saudi Arabia theft and possession of alcohol may be punished by cutting off the offender’s hand or foot. They believe that it deters others from committing such crimes.

The ultimate penalty is death. But many countries have … it or ceased to use the … … because the innocent people can be executed by mistake.

B. Underline the kinds of punishment mentioned in the text and give Ukrainian equivalents for them. Remember them.

8.This is a list of punishments for crimes available in the United Kingdom criminal justice system:

•capital punishment

•probation

•life imprisonment

•community service order

•fine

•suspended sentence

•corporal punishment

•imprisonment

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Part ІI. BASIC COURSE

A.Translate them, giving the Ukrainian equivalents. Use them in your own sentences.

B.Draw a word ladder starting with the least serious punishment and ending with the most serious.

the most serious punishment

the least serious

9.A. Here are seven paragraphs in the article. They are not in the right order. Write down the correct question for each paragraph and put them in correct order.

___________ Many also believe that it deters others from com5 mitting such crimes.

___________The ultimate penalty is death (capital punishment). It is carried out by hanging (Kenya, for example); electrocution, gassing or lethal injection (U.S.); beheading or stoning (Saudi Arabia); or s5 hooting (China).Most countries still have a death penalty, 35 (including almost every European nation) have abolished it; 18 retain it only for exceptional crimes such as wartime offences; and 27 no longer carry out executions even when a death sentence has been passed.

____________ A further argument is that, should a mistake be made, it is too late to rectify it once the execution has taken place. In 1987, two academics published a study showing that 23 innocent people had been executed in the USA.

____________ Opponents argue that execution is cruel and civilized. Capital punishment involved not only the pain of dying but also the mental anguish of waiting, sometimes for years, to know if and when the sentence will be carried out.

____________ As the debate about capital punishment continues, the phenomenon of death row increases. In 1991, no one was executed in Japan, but three people were sentenced to death, brining the total number on death to row to fifty. Sakae Menda lived under sentence of death for 33 years before obtaining a retrial and being found not guilty.

____________ Research has shown that capital punishment is used inconsistently. For example, in South America, black murderers are far more likely to be sentenced to death than whites.

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___________ Supporters of capital punishment believe that death is a just punishment for certain serious crimes.

B. Answer the following questions:

1.What methods is capital punishment carried out?

2.What arguments do opponents of death penalty present?

3.What arguments do proponents of death penalty present?

4.What is death row?

Post reading tasks

1. Match each punishment with its description:

1. capital punishment a) a period of time in jail

2. corporal punishment b) being made to do special hard work

9. solitary confinement i) limiting the freedom of movement esp. for political reason

10. a suspected sentence j) being imprisoned completely along

2.Make sure you know the difference between the verbs to steal and to rob.

The object of the verb «steal» is the thing which is taken away, e.g. they stole my bike, whereas the object of the verb ‘rob’ is the person or place from which things are stolen, e.g. I was robbed last night. A masked man robbed the bank. ‘Steal’ is irregular: steal, stole, stolen.

A. Put the right form of either to rob or to steal in the sentences below:

1.Last night an armed gang ……………….... the post office. They

................... Ј2000.

2.My handbag …………………………….at the theatre yesterday.

3.Every year large numbers of banks……………………………. .

4.Jane ......………............ of the opportunity to stand for president.

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B. Read the sentences and then complete the chart by ticking the objects that go with the verbs.

He stole her briefcase from her car.

We have a video of the accused robbing a bank. I was mugged in brood daylight.

The burglary took place some time in the night.

Which of these words has the connotation of violence?

3. Put each of the following words or phrases in its correct place below.

The Purpose of State Punishment

What is the purpose of punishment? One purpose is obviously to (a)

___ the offender, to correct the offender’s moral attitudes and anti5social behaviour and to (b) _ him or her, which means to assist the offender to return to normal life as a useful member of the community. Punishment can also be seen as a (c) ___, because it warns other people of what will happen if they are tempted to break the law and so prevents them from doing so. However, a third purpose of punishment lies, perhaps, in soci5 ety’s desire for (d) _____ which basically means revenge. In other words, don’t we feel that a (e) ___should suffer for his (f) ___? The form of punishment should also be considered, on the one hand, some believe that we should «make the punishment fit the crime». Those who steal from others should be deprived of their own property to ensure that criminals are left in no doubt that (g) «_____». For those who attack others, (h) ____

should be used. Murderers should be subject to the principle «an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth» and automatically receive the (I) ___. On the other hand, it is said that such views are unreasonable, cruel and (j)

___ and that we should show a moral (k) ___ attitude to punishment and

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try to understand why a person commits a crime and how society has failed to enable him to live a respectable, (l) ___ life.

4. Essay: «Imprisonment is revenge, but not rehabilitation». Write an essay containing two arguments for and two against this statement. Express your own opinion and prove it. Use the following list of transitional words and phrases to connect your paragraphs of an essay:

On the one hand, on the other hand, however, on the contrary, in addition, finally, in particular, etc. Then discuss your answer with other students.

OVER TO YOU

Put each of the following words in its correct place in the passage below.

(a)If you want legal advice in Britain, you go to a ___.

(b)At the end of the ___, the judge ordered the twelve men and women of the ___ to retire and consider their ___, guilty or not guilty.

(c)Men or women who look after prisoners in prison are called prison officers or ___.

(d)If a person dies in unusual circumstances, an ___ is held at a special court, and the «judge» is called a ___.

(e)A policeman who investigates serious crime is called a ___. He wears ____, not uniform.

(f)In some countries murderers are executed but other countries have abolished the ___.

B. CRIME, THE LAW AND THE POLICE

WORD GRAMMAR VERB COMPLEMENTATION

Put the right preposition after each verb.

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