Probable cause and other levels of proof

Before the various steps of' the criminal justice system can be initi arrest, bookin2, arraiõnment and sentencina diftèrent levels of proof are required. The levels of proof recognized bv law are as follows:

Suspicion: The lowest level of proof justitÿing a police action. Suspicion may occur when a police officer has only slight evidencc ta believe that a crime has been or is in the process of being committed. It permits a police officer to initiate an investigation.

Reasonable Belief: Reasonable belief is a specific and reasonable conclusion drawn from obsecvable facts. It permits the police to stop and

search a person when (ilCV have reason to believe thev are dealing with an armed and dangerous persons.

Probable cause: This higher level of proof exists when one has sufficient and reliable information that a crime has been committed and that the accused has committed that crime. It is the slandard used for arrest, search and arraignment.

Preponderance of Evidence: This means that the weight of evidence is greater for one side than tar the other. This is sufficient tor making a judgemcnt in civil cases, but not enouah to convict in criminal cases. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: This level of proof exists when, after examining the evidence presented, a reasonable person would rely on it. It is the standard needed to convict in a criniinal case.

It is difficult to distinguish between each of thc levels of the proof described above. Yet the different levels OF proof serve as a good illustration of how society attempts to deal with the problem of protecting the state from crime while at the same time guaranteeing and protecting an individual's libertv. The aim is to limit police actions that are unreasonable or discriminatory while at the same time making it possible for the police to enforce the law. Mere suspicion IS not enough to put so•neone iniail, and proof bevond a reasonable doubt is needed to prove criminal guilt. No person can be found guiltv of a criminal offence without proof bevond a reasonable doubt, hilt a person can bc arrested and searched. and tom)ally charged vy•ith a crime on the basis Of evidence that is less than that required to convict him.

(Law, Order and Justice, L).T.Taylor)

Ex. 38. Answer the questions on text

How many levels of proof are there'?

2. \.Vhat is the aim of the levels afproof?

3. Is it easv ro distinguish between di fferent levels of proat? 4. What does the level of suspicion •nean?

5 Is reasonable betiefcnough to make a search of a person?

6. What is the standard used for arrest, search and arraignment?

7. What does the level of beyond a reasonable doubt mean?

Ex. 39. Make up a summary of text "C":

Additional texts

Text li Do a written translation of the text.

THE BELLS OF THE OLD BAILY

In 1834 the Central Criminal Court "tas set up by statute, as the Court in which the Corntnissioners were to do their work. Since that time the proceedings held at the Sessions Housc were those of the Central Criminal Court. By the Judicature Act of 1875 the Centra) Cviminal (Tourt was constituted part of the Hieh C'ourt of Justice. IIS jurisdiction has been subsequently extended and now covers indictable offènccs (oftënces other than those triable sumrnarily betòre magistrates), committed within the City of London, the counties of London and Middlesex, and much of the surrounding country-side. it also has jurisdiction over offences committed on the High Seas (thus inheriting the criminal jurisdiction of the Court of Admiralty). And less serious oitënces, if committed within the City ot• London, are tried at the Central Criminal Courl.

The Court must sit for at Icast twelvc sessions in the year (it in tuct sits for twelve), and each session lasts for nearly a month. The vacations observed bv the civil side of the Supreme Court have no place here. At the beginning of each session is read out the list of persons comnussinned to hear cases. The persons so commissioned are the Lord Mayor Of London, the Lord Chancellor, all the judges of the High Court and certain other persons. The Court may sit in two or more divisions ("courts") and these mav be as manv as five. The majoritv of the work is done bv the three officials together with one or more special commissioners. But on the third dav of each session a profèssional judge sits to tr,•' the most serious cases, and continues until they have been disposed of.

There is a tendency tow•ards a rnare humane adlninistratian of the "criminal law. For many vears the reform in the punishment of offences after conviction has been accompanied bv a trend towards a more satisfactorv trial of accused prisoners betOre they are convicted.• English crnmnat law has progressed over the centuries, fram an attitude which regarded the fact that a man was charged with an offence as strong evidence that hc had committed it, to one which affords the prisoner all the consideration and courtesv due to an innocent man antil he is proved guilty. But the old traditions die hard, and judges and advocates who had been trained in the older school at the Old Bailev survived the formal changes.

Text 2. This article deals with the problem Of crime as Scandinavian criminologists sce it. Read the article and give your own opinion.

2.30

CRIMINAL POLICY OF THE FUTURE

(Scandinavian Studies in Criminologv)

Criminal policy's alternative that, in today's situation, represents a new and radical trend. stems from a sociological view of societv.

It iš; characteristiœ of the sociological view of criminal policy that criminality is seen as a conflict situation, and crime as the visible expresSK)n of a certain balance between diftèrent social pressures. The balance theory assumes that one no longer asks the question: "How can we eliminate crime?" because it is a meaningless question. Every society has, must have, crime and criminals. As early as in 1 897 Durkheim pointed out that even a society of saints would have its social norms and its normbreakers. We therefore cannot merely propose the elimination of crime as a fundamental goal, but, we can strive tar a certain type of balance, we can try to influence the structure of criminality, its gravity. The fact that criminality is experienced as a conflict between dissimilar pressures which keep each åther in balance has an important consequence; in everv problem situation in criminal policv it becomes equally important to take a stand as to the possibility of thawing societv's control. its evaluations, its organizations, including both laws and control apparatus, as it is to take a stand on the problem of how the criminal shall be influenced.

The classical examplc of this phenomenon IS, ot- course, the experunent countries tried before the Second World War. An attempt was made to influence the general public with the threat of punishment. The results of these methods were, for diffërent reasons, disappointing. fn this situation certain countries experilncnted with even harder control measures; other countries chose the opposite alternativc of de-criminalizino the use and sale of alcohol.

There are many forms of de-criminalizing. What followed the prohibition law example may most correctlv be characterized as "le-galizing"• special institutions and special legal norms are provided for behaviour that was earlier defined as criminal.

Another type of de-criminalizing is to be found in those sectors which cover the area of moral crime. it is a so-called complete decriminalizing where the punishment is not replaced by anv measure at all from society. Concerning problems within this area, it is obvious that criminological research can, here, in a decisive manner influence the structure of criminalization. Research can diffèrentiate offence categories

according to the consequences: ror example, bv finding out to what extent certain sexual behaviour, drinking behaviour, or a certain type of narcotic usage, causes suffëring or risk of suffering to, other people. and to what extern the behaviour only harms the person concerned himself. Whether empirical studies of this son can rnake possible the de-crilninalizing of certain types of narcotic crime depends entirely on what results are reached through research.

Lesson 8. РНУЫСМ, EVIDE.*'C.E

Содержание

Словообразование: (повторение) префиксы и суффиксы с противоположным значением; определение частей речи по формальным признакам.

П. Грамматика: сосласательное наклонение.

Ш. тексты: Теи Physical Evidcncc тем Fingerprints

Теи Crimc Scene and [)uties а Police ()fEcer at а Crime Scene

IV. Дополнительные тексты:

Ё. Fingcrprints

2. Latent l'rims

Phonetic exercises

Ex. l. Repeat the following words after the speaker:

preservation, phase, worthless, inefficiently, methodologv, exists, designated, initial, custody, final, within, admissibilitv, precautions, insure, viable, whether, analyzed, compared, chances. pieces, debris, fibres, adhering, removed, packaged, measured, circurnstantial, specific, certain. scene, corroborative, through, intrinsic, su fliciently, none, touching, preliminary, survey, acquaint, complete, accompany, guard, surfaces, movable, thoroughlv.

Ex. 2. Repeat the following word combinations after the speaker:

preservation of physical evidence: mav be worthless if inefficiently handled; a methodologv exists; the scene of a crime: initial discoverv; temporary custody; final disposition; precautions taken to ensure: no viable alternative; whether or not; compared with the shoe; certain fibres, etc. adhering to it: can generally be measured; circumstantial evidence•, a specific circumstance: corroborative evidence; through physical evidence; great intrinsic value; none of which: touching any object; the preliminarv survey; to acquaint the investigating officer, guard against contamination of such objects and surfaces; thorou2hly searching; carefully packaged.