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ТЕМА 9. Виды преступленийUnit 9
Types of crimes
Types of crimes Modern world is in constant struggle against various crimes. With the development of technology a lot of new crimes appear, so crime rates in many countries are still high. A crime is an illegal guilty socially dangerous act which is prohibited by the Criminal Law. People, who commit crimes, are called criminals, or perpetrators. Different countries classify crimes in different ways. Crimes are often classified into: crimes against humanity (genocide, ecocide, etc.); crimes against the government (treason, espionage, assassination, etc.); crimes against public peace and order (traffic crimes, disorderly conduct, hooliganism, vandalism, etc.), crimes against the person. Homicide is generally considered to be the most serious crime against the person. It is killing of a human being and often thought to be synonymous with murder, but murder is only one category of homicide. Murder occurs when one human being is killed by another with malice aforethought. Manslaughter is unlawful homicide committed without malice aforethought. Other examples of crimes against the person are battery, rape, crimes against property (theft or larceny, shoplifting, pickpocketing, burglary, motor vehicle theft, robbery, arson, extortion, fraud, etc.); economic crimes (forgery, tax evasion, currency counterfeiting, money laundering, fraudulent bankruptcy, commercial espionage, etc.); white-collar (or corrupt) crimes (bribery, embezzlement, abuse of power, etc.). One of the most important classifications is the grading of crimes according to the severity of punishment and seriousness of the offence. In English-speaking countries crimes are typically graded into felonies, and misdemeanors. A felony is a crime of a serious nature. Felonies are usually punishable by imprisonment of more than one year. Felonies often involve serious physical harm (or threat of harm) to victims, but they also include offenses like white-collar crimes and fraud schemes. Murder, kidnapping, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, larceny (theft) of large sums, assault and perjury are examples of felonies. A misdemeanor is a crime of less serious nature. Misdemeanors are offences punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or a fine. Crimes such as disorderly conduct, traffic violations, theft of small sums are usually misdemeanors.
A Exercise 1. Give the English for: уровень преступности, совершить преступление, преступник, противоправное деяние, преступления против личности, преступления против собственности, убийство, похищение людей, тяжкое преступление, причинение смерти по неосторожности, преступный умысел, кража, угон автомобиля, карманная кража, магазинная кража, кража со взломом (с проникновением), грабеж, намерение (умысел), поджог, изнасилование, растрата (присвоение денег, имущества), лжесвидетельство, приговор.
Exercise 2. Match English and Russian equivalents:
Exercise 3. Complete the sentences: 1) A crime is an illegal guilty socially dangerous act which is prohibited by … . 2) People, who commit crimes, are called … . 3) Crimes can be divided into two main categories … . 4) Crimes against person are … . 5) Murder occurs when one human being is killed by another with … . 6) Manslaughter is unlawful homicide committed without … . 7) Crimes against property are … . 8) Burglary involves breaking into and entering houses or vehicles with the intent ... . 9) In English-speaking countries crimes are also divided into … .
Exercise 4. Agree or disagree: 1) A crime is an illegal guilty socially dangerous act which is prohibited by the Penal Law. 2) People, who commit crimes, are called criminals. 3) Robbery is generally considered to be the most serious crime. 4) Examples of acts of stealing property are kidnapping and battery. 5) Felonies are usually offences punishable by sentences of more than one year in prisons. 6) Misdemeanors are offences punishable by a fine. 7) A felony is a crime of less serious nature. 8) Murder, kidnapping, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, larceny (also called theft) of large sums, and perjury are examples of felonies. 9) Crimes such as drunkenness in public, driving an automobile at an illegal speed, shoplifting, and larceny of small sums are usually misdemeanors.
Exercise 5. Answer the questions: 1. What are crimes against a person? 2. What are crimes against property? 3. What is a felony? Give examples of felonies. 4. What is the punishment for felonies? 5. What is a misdemeanor? Give examples of misdemeanors. 6. What is the punishment for misdemeanors?
B
Exercise 1. Read and translate the following sentences. Pay attention to the functions of the Infinitive: 1) There was insufficient evidence for the court to convict her. 2) The police are entitled to use reasonable force to arrest a person. 3) In proceedings, judges have the duty to protect the rights and freedoms of all persons. 4) A barrister is required to have an accepted educational standard and to have become a member of the Inns of Court. 5) Both the prosecution and defence used all the evidence to convince the jury. 6) One of the functions of a solicitor is to give legal advice on a wide variety of issues.
Exercise 2. Read the sentences, find the Infinitive and define its function. Translate the sentences into Russian: 1) The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is ten years and it is not possible to bring criminal proceedings against children below this age. 2) When the detective arrives at a crime scene, his very first duty will be to arrest the suspect if he can. 3) A bill must be discussed in the House of Commons. 4) They have to finish their work by tomorrow. 5) Drivers may go at 60 kilometers an hour here and pedestrians ought to be more careful. 6) The police must investigate any case involving death or serious injury.
Exercise 3. Translate the sentences from Russian into English using the Infinitive where possible: 1) У каждого есть право считаться невиновным, пока не доказана вина. 2) Правонарушителю не нравилось, что с ним разговаривают таким образом. 3) Чтобы искоренить преступность, необходимо изучить все ее причины. 4) Потерпевший, если он жив и находится в сознании, является первым лицом, которое необходимо допросить. 5) Задержание преступника весьма часто является непростой задачей. 6) К настоящему времени дело должно было быть рассмотрено.
C Exercise 1. Read and translate the text: Theft
Theft (or larceny) is probably the most common crime involving a criminal intent. The crime of grand larceny in some U.S. jurisdictions consists of stealing more than a specified amount. The traditional definition of theft specified the physical removal of an object that was capable of being stolen, without the consent of the owner and with the intention of depriving the owner of it forever. In many legal systems the old definition has been found to be inadequate to deal with modern forms of property that may not be physical or tangible (a bank balance, for instance, or data stored on a computer), and more sophisticated definitions of theft have been adopted in modern legislation. The distinction that the common law made between theft (taking without consent) and fraud (obtaining with consent, as a result of deception) has been preserved in many modern laws, but the two crimes are rarely regarded as mutually exclusive, as they were in the past. Burglary is the crime of breaking into a dwelling or into a building by night with intent to commit a felony or to steal things. The essence of burglary is normally the entry into a felony or to steal things. The essence of burglary is normally the entry into a building with a criminal intent. Entry without the intent to commit a crime is merely a trespass, which is not criminal in many jurisdictions. Although the motivation of most burglars is theft, but it is possible, for instance, to commit burglary with intent to rape.
Exercise 2. Read and translate the text: White-Collar Crime
Crimes committed by business people, professionals, and politicians in the course of their occupation are known as “white-collar” crimes, after the typical attire of their perpetrators. Criminologists tend to restrict the term to those illegal actions intended by the perpetrators principally to further the aims of their organizations rather than to make money for themselves personally. Examples include conspiring with other corporations to fix prices of goods or services in order to make artificially high profits or to drive a particular competitor out of the market; bribing officials or falsifying reports of tests on pharmaceutical products to obtain manufacturing licenses; and constructing buildings or roads with cheap, defective materials. The cost of corporate crime in the United States has been estimated at $ 200,000,000,000 a year. Such crimes have a huge impact upon the safety of workers, consumers, and the environment, but they are seldom detected. Compared with crimes committed by juveniles or the poor, corporate crimes are very rarely prosecuted in the criminal courts, and executives seldom go to jail, though companies may pay large fines. The term white-collar crime is used in another sense, by the public and academics, to describe fraud and embezzlement. Rather than being crime “by the firm, for the firm,” this constitutes crime for profit by the individual against the organization, the public, or the government. The economic cost of white-collar crime in most industrial societies is thought to be much greater than the combined cost of larceny, burglary, auto theft, forgery, and robbery.
Exercise 3. Read and translate the text: Аrson
In common law, arson consisted of setting fire to the dwelling of another person. In English law any kind of damage deliberately caused by fire – even setting fire to rubbish – is now arson, but generally setting fire to a building is necessary. The gravity of the crime may depend on the extent to which life is endangered – the law may distinguish between arson endangering life, or arson of occupied buildings, and other forms of arson, but most systems consider the crime a serious one. The motivation of those who commit arson differs – arson may be committed as an act of revenge against an employer or by a jealous lover, for example, or by persons who find excitement in fires or have pathological impulses to set fires. Pathological behaviour or feelings happen regularly, are unreasonable, and impossible to control. Pupils out of resentment or simple vandalism sometimes set schools on fire. [Resentment is a feeling of anger because something has happened that you think is unfair. Vandalism is the crime of deliberately damaging things, especially public property]. Some arson is more rationally motivated – a burglar may set fire to a house to conceal the evidence of his crime, as may an employee who is anxious to conceal accounts from an auditor. [Burglar is someone who gets into houses, shops etc. to steal things. Auditor is someone whose job is to officially examine a company`s financial records.] Another phenomenon is setting fire to premises belonging to the fire setter in order to make a fraudulent insurance claim.
D
Types of crimes
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