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15) a hooligan o) hides on a ship or plane to get a free journey
16) a stowaway p) takes control of a plane by force and makes
the pilot change course
17) a thief q) murders for political reasons or a reward
18) a hijacker r) is someone who steals
19) a forger s) makes counterfeit (false) money or signatures
20) a robber t)is a member of a criminal group
21) a smuggler u) steals money, etc. by force from peple or
places
22) a traitor v) marries illegally, being married already
23) a gangster w) is a soldier who runs away from the army
24) a deserter x) brings goods into a country illegally without
paying tax
25) a bigamist y) illegally carries drugs into another country
26) drug smuggler z) betrays his or her country to another state
Task 11. Topics for discussion.
1. Crime stems from the breakdown of traditional social norms.
2. Family and social control are the most effective means of crime prevention.
3. Greater public understanding of the crime problem is important for the apprehension and
conviction of criminals, their rehabilitation, and the prevention of crime.
4. Capital punishment creates, it does not solve problem.
5. There is no room for capital punishment in civilized society.
Supplementary tasks
Task 1. Read the text and write down new legal terms. Translate them and learn.
Legal Definition of Crime and Criminal
Legally a crime is an act made punishable by law. A criminal is one who has committed such a legally
forbidden act. Yet there are other criteria which determine whether a person may be dealt with as a criminal.
Regardless of his act, he must be of competent age. Under English Common Law a child under 7
could not commit a crime because he was held not capable of mens rea – of feeling a sense of guilt – and so
was not responsible. In American states the stage of criminal responsibility is fixed by statute or
constitutionally, considerably above the common law limit. Very young children may of course be dealt with
in juvenile courts. They may be punished as well as treated constructively under the fiction that the court
acts as a parent would act and in the best interests of the child.
Criminal acts must be voluntary and engaged in without compulsion. Compulsion as defined by courts
must be evident and immediately related to a particular criminal act.
Especially in the case of serious crimes, the criminal must be shown to have had criminal intent: he
must have meant to do wrong. Usually criminal intent is tested in terms of his knowledge of right and
wrong, and his knowledge of the nature and consequences of his behaviour.
Criminal law also often recognizes degrees of intent as necessary to constitute particular crimes.
Finally, to constitute a crime an act must be classed legally as an injury to the state and not merely as
a private injury or tort.
Crimes
Crimes are generally divided into the subdivisions of felonies and misdemeanors. The felonies are
generally classed as the most serious and more heinous crimes, indictable and punished by severe penalties.
The misdemeanors are lesser violations.
The Constitution of the United States provides that “no person shall be subject for the same offence to
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb”. This means that no person can be subjected to a second prosecution
for a crime for which he has been tried and duly convicted or acquitted. But the defendant may generally be
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