2020-06-12
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1. Where do you study?
2. Are you a part-time or full-time student?
3. What year student are you?
4. What is your future qualification?
5. What is your special rank?
6. What subjects do you find most important for your professional work?
7. Are you a penal officer or a militiaman or a civil worker?
8. Do you plan to take post-graduate courses?
9. It is very difficult to combine work and studies at the Institute, isn’t it?
10. What problems of the Russian Criminal Justice system do you find most urgent and important?
LEGAL THEORY AND PRACTICE: READING MATERILAS
(ЮРИДИЧЕСКАЯ ТЕОРИЯ И ПРАКТИКА:
МАТЕРИАЛЫ ДЛЯ ЧТЕНИЯ)
I. Basic Concepts of Law (Основные правовые понятия)
1. Why We Should Know Law
We live in a complicated world. New scientific and social developments increase the tempo of our daily lives and make them more difficult. We are better informed about local, national and world affairs. We read newspapers, magazines, books. We listen to radio, we watch television. But there is one field of knowledge that we usually neglect. – It is the Law, those rules and regulations which govern our every social move and action. Knowledge of the basic principles of law is a necessity. We meet it, in some form, in daily business and social experience.
(S. T. Reid «Criminal Justice»)
2. Some Basic Legal Definitions
«Laws» are rules established by a governing power to maintain peace, to secure justice for members of society, to define the legal rights of the individual and the community, and to punish offenders for legal wrongs. The word «law» is used to mean many things. First of all, it is used to indicate all law, all authority. It is also used to mean a single legal act, a «statute».
There are many subdivisions of the main concept of «law». The basic ones are «civil law» and «criminal law». The «Civil law» is the portion of the law which determines the rights of the individual in protecting a person and his property. The «Criminal law» is the part of law which is established to maintain peace and order; its purpose is to protect society and the community from the harmful acts of individuals.
(R. M. Regoli, J. D. Hewitt «Delinquency in Society»)
3. The Criminal Justice System of the USA
Any state has an established system of law procedures and punishments to guarantee social order. Like other societies, America has a Criminal Justice System to enforce the laws protecting individuals and the whole society. The system operates by identifying, apprehending, prosecuting, convicting and sentencing people who violate the laws of the nation and its various states.
Society has given its police the powers to patrol the streets, prevent crime, and arrest suspected criminals. It has established courts to conduct trials of the accused and to sentence criminals. It has created a correctional process consisting of prisons to punish convicted persons and programmes to rehabilitate them so that they could become useful citizens. These three components – law enforcement ( police, sheriffs, and marshals), the judicial process (judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers) and corrections (prison officials and probation officers) – establish a system of criminal justice. The basic rules that determine the work of the American Criminal Justice System are defined in the Constitution of the United States of America.
4. Court System: International Comparisons
In some countries such as France (where there are 9 jurors), the judges and jurors decide the case together. In the United States the jurors decide if the defendant is guilty, but sometimes they also say what punishment he should receive. Before World War II, Japan also had a jury system, but it was often criticized for the corruption of the jurors. Now Japan, like South Korea, is a rare example of a modern industrialized country where jurors are not used: all decisions are made by professional judges.
Most countries have special rules for young defendants. Children under
10 cannot stand trial at all under the English law. Juveniles (those under 17) are dealt with in special Magistrates’ Courts known as Juvenile Courts.
(M. J. Ross, S. Ross «Handbook of Everyday Law»)
5. Courts and Crimes in Great Britain
County courts are the main civil courts. The High court hears all those civil cases that cannot be decided by county courts.
All criminal cases in Great Britain start in the Magistrates’ courts, or policecourts. Magistrates’ courts are presided over by Justices of the Peace (J.P.), or magistrates. They work part-time and are unpaid. The minor cases stay there, and the magistrates decide on the guilt or innocence and then sentence the criminal. Sentences – that is punishment decided by the court, may be different. The most common sentences are fines, imprisonment and probation.
People who are found guilty usually pay a fine if the offence is not very serious. Magistrates' courts can impose fines of up to ₤2,000 (two thousand pounds) or prison sentences up to six months. If the punishment is to be more severe, the case must go to a Crown court. Crown court judges have power to punish more heavily than magistrates. The most severe punishment is life imprisonment: there is no death penalty in Great Britain, it was abolished in 1965.
There is another form of punishment called probation. Probation is often used for less serious offences. A person on probation must report to a local police station at regular intervals of time which restricts his or her movement. Magistrates and judges may also pass suspended sentences, when the person will not serve the sentence unless he or she commits another crime. A sentence ofcommunityservice means that the convicted person has to spend several hours a week doing useful work in his place of residence.
People who have been convicted can appeal if their lawyer can either show that the trial has made a mistake or produce new evidence. Appeal can also be made against the severity of the sentence. Appeals from a magistrates’ court is to go to the Crown court. The Crown court judge will hear the appeal without a jury. Appeals from the Crown Court go first to the High Court and, in special cases, to the Court of Appeals. Occasionally, the case is sent to the Judicial Chamber the House of Lords. From there, appeals are sent to the European Court of Justice.
(P. W. D. Reymond «General Principles of English Law»)
6. US Supreme Court
The main instrument of the judiciary in the USA is the Supreme Court. It says whether or not the laws and acts of the country are in accordance with the Constitution of the country. Congress has the power to fix the number of Supreme Court judges, but it cannot change the powers given to the Supreme Court by the Constitution itself. The Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices. They are nominated by the President but must be approved by the Senate. Once approved, they hold office as Supreme Court Justices for life. A decision of the Supreme Court cannot be appealed to any other court. Neither the President, not Congress can change their decisions.
In addition to the Supreme Court, there are 11 federal courts of appeal and, below them, 91 federal district courts.
The Supreme Court has direct jurisdiction in only two kinds of cases: those involving foreign diplomats and those in which the State is a party. All other cases which reach the Supreme Court are appeals from the lower courts. The Supreme Court also has the «power of judicial review». It means that it has the right to declare laws and actions of the federal, state and local governments unconstitutional.
(S. T. Reid «Criminal Justice»)
Задания
I. Ответьте на вопросы по содержанию прочитанных текстов.
1. Why is it, according to Text 1, important to know the basic principles of law?
2. What does Text 2 say about the two main subdivisions of Law?
3. What are the main components of the Criminal Justice System of
the USA?
4. What countries are cited in Text 4 as examples of modern industrialized countries where the jury trials are not used?
5. What are the powers of Magistrates’ courts in Great Britain?
6. What is probation? A suspended sentence? Are there any similar sentences in the Russian judicial practice?
7. What is the highest judicial authority in Great Britain?
8. How many members does the Supreme Court of the USA consist of?
9. What cases does the Supreme Court decide?
10. What is meant by the «power of judicial review», that the US Supreme Court has?
