Задание 2. Прочитайте и переведите текст

Vladimir Law Institute of the Federal Penal Service is one of the best institutions of higher learning in Russia. It trains penal officers, militiamen, and civil lawyers. There are two Departments which are financed from the state funds, and a Self-Financed (Commercial) Department, where the students pay for their education. The institute trains qualified personnel for agencies of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as for civil organizations. There are three branches of the Institute located in various parts of Russia – in Kazan, Ivanovo and Krasnodar.

The Institute also offers post-graduate courses to those who are interested in scientific research and would like to study important theoretical and practical aspects of law.

It takes part-time students three or six years to complete the programme. It depends on their previous education. Secondary school leavers study six years; those students who have already graduated from law colleges study three years to get higher education.

The students study social and economic subjects, law disciplines: Political Science, History of Foreign Countries, Logic, the Court System, Theory of State and Law, Psychology, Foreign languages (English and German) and many other subjects. Students also get practical computer skills which are necessary for their professional work.

Part-time students are to attend lectures and seminars, do tests and take exams. Upon graduation all the students write a diploma paper, take final state examinations and get a qualification of a lawyer.

I am a first- (fourth-) year student. I am a private (sergeant, sergeant-major, warrant officer, lieutenant, senior lieutenant, captain, major). My profession is Crime Detection and Crime Investigation (Personnel Management, Social work in Corrections). My friend also studies here – he is a prospective personnel manager for Corrections. The programmes of our studies differ a lot: I specialize more in Criminal Law, Criminal Justice, Administrative Law, and Forensic Science. As for him, his programme is focused on Penal Law, Personnel Management, Sociology and Psychology.

Penal officers are to organize and manage inmates at penal institutions of different types. There are many problems to be studied and solved in Corrections today:

– What is the purpose of punishment?

– What is the social background of modern criminality?

– What types of punishment are practiced today in this country and abroad?

– How are human rights observed in correctional institutions?

– What should be done to prepare the inmates for release and ensure their return back to the community?

People who have committed crimes and are placed into prisons, penal colonies and reform schools should be treated legally and humanely; their human rights should not be violated and they should be given a chance to reform and return to normal life in the community. It is especially important for juvenile delinquents and female offenders.

The Institute also trains officers for militia agencies. A militiaman today is to participate in peace-keeping operations, investigate and solve crimes, prevent and control crime activities. Officers of the militia are trained to use the weapon, to interview and interrogate witnesses, suspects and criminals, to search the crime scene. Today they must be ready to solve some specific problems – fight ethnic, drug-related, and computer crime, and combat terrorist activities.

To study at the institute is difficult but interesting. On the one hand, it is not easy to combine work and studies, because I also have to support my family. On the other hand, I understand that to succeed in life today one should have a good education and Vladimir Law Institute gives an opportunity to get it.