Put each of the following words and phrases into its correct place in the passage below. Sometimes you need to change the form of the word given.
accused
court
judge
legislature
panel
trial
acquit
cross-examinations
jurors
list
sentence
witnesses
civil suits
fault
jury
money
swear
counsel
guilty
legal disputes
officer
testimony
Trial by Jury
A jury is a selected group of laymen that hears the (1)_______________ in (2)______________ and decides the facts. A courtroom trial in which a (3)_______________ decides the facts is called a (4)____________ by jury.
Before each (5)______________ term, a jury commissioner or another public (6)_____________ prepares a panel, or large initial (7)______________ of qualified jurors. For each trial, (8)____________ are selected by lot from this (9)______________ . Before the trial begins, the jurors (10)_____________ to decide the facts fairly. They hear the (11)______________ given by witnesses for both sides, including (12)______________ . Then (13)_____________ for each side sum up, or summarize the case and the (14)____________ explains the applicable law in his instructions to the jury.
In (15)____________ for financial damages, the jury must decide who is at (16)_____________ and must determine the amount of (17)______________ to be paid. In criminal cases, the jury must decide whether or not the (18)_______________ is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and then either return a verdict of guilty, or (19)______________ the defendant by a verdict of not guilty. If the verdict is (20)______________, the judge imposes the (21)_____________ , or punishment, within limits that have been fixed by the (22)_______________ .
/Tests in English: thematic vocabulary. Mariusz Misztal/
Use the word on the right to form a new word to fill each gap in this passage.
Does prison work?
There are several generally accepted (1)______________ about prison.
Firstly, that prison is a social (2)_____________ against anti-social people. In short, it keeps us (3)_______________. Secondly, that prison punishes wrongdoers through their (4)________________ of freedom. Thirdly, that it teaches convicts the error of their ways, so that when they are released, they can enter back into (5)________________ life as law-abiding citizens.
However, there is growing (6)______________ that prison is not always the best (7)_______________ to the problems of crime that we face. Several (8)______________ studies have shown that prison is not nearly as (9)______________ to society as we might imagine. There are several (10)_____________ for this.
The (11)____________ conditions in most prisons mean that (12)_____________ criminals rarely receive a positive education. Rather, they spend their time inside with other (13)______________ who teach them the tricks of their trade. Also, when they are released, its very difficult for them to find a job, so they often feel that they have no (14)_____________ but to reoffend. Its the only thing they know. So the (15)______________ is that they are more likely to commit crimes again when they are released than if they hadnt been sent to prison in the first place.
As a society, we have to pay (16)_____________ to the results of these findings. In (17)______________, we may be a lot
(18)______________ if we give criminals the
(19)_______________ to gain the practical skills they need to get a job and live (20)_____________, productive lives, rather than just locking them away. There is little (21)______________ that prison works. Perhaps now is the time for us to take important (22)_____________ regarding our system of punishment. At the very least, we need to give it more (23)____________. It could be a matter of life and (24)_________.
BELIEVE
DEFEND
SAVE
LOSE
DAY
EVIDENT
SOLVE
SCIENCE
BENEFIT
EXPLAIN
TERROR
PRISON
PRISON
CHOOSE
TRUE
ATTEND
PRACTISE
SAVE
ABLE
SUCCEED
PROVE
DECIDE
THINK
DIE
/from Skills for First Certificate: Use of English. Malcolm Mann, Steve Taylore-Knowles/
Debating the death penalty. This report about a vote in the British House of Commons on restoring or reintroducing the death penalty (in Britain traditionally by hanging) comes from the BBC. Complete the gaps with the words from the box.
support deprive miscarriage of justice bring back sentence cut down on supporters evidence hangman deterrent
HANGING VOTE
The last judicial hanging in Britain was back in 1964. But every two years or so, (1) of capital punishment make an attempt to persuade the Commons to (2) the death penalty. The latest, on Monday, saw the most emphatic rejection yet of the arguments for bringing back the (3) .. . The Commons voted by a ratio of two to one that courts should not be able to (4) . convicted murderers to death. Such a decisive vote will settle the matter for some years.
But inevitably, sooner or later the hanging lobby will make another attempt to amend the law.
For while MPs have turned their backs on the biblical doctrine of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth', among the general public there's strong (5) for the death penalty. This was one of the main arguments used by supporters of the death penalty during the Commons debate. Not only would the return of the rope reflect public opinion, it was argued, it would also act as a (6) to criminals and (7) the number of murders.
The anti-hanging lobby argues on practical grounds - that there's no (8) that the death penalty functions as a deterrent - and on moral grounds, that the state has no right to (9) its citizens of the right to live.
The arguments have been well rehearsed over the years. But the most compelling argument, and the one which most contributed to the enormous majority against hanging in Monday's vote, is the possibility of a (10) . . The 'Guildford Four' jailed in the mid-seventies for IRA bombings it later transpired they did not commit - might well have been hanged if the death penalty had still been in force.
16. Does the sentence fit the crime? This article from The Times discusses typical sentences for three types of crimes in different places. Complete the table with details of crimes 2 and 3, including details of sentencing in places not mentioned in connection with the first crime.
Lawyers uncover big divide in nations jail terms
Big disparities in sentencing of criminals between different countries, even within Europe, are revealed in a survey to be published at the biennial conference of the International Bar Conference in Cannes later this month. The survey team put a series of hypothetical cases to legal authorities in more than 20 countries and found penalties in Europe varied by more than 10 years for crimes such as rape and by more than 40 years when countries from different continents are compared.
In one question, a 19-year old man had been found guilty of raiding a bank with four other people, masked and armed with a machinegun. He was unemployed, the youngest member of the gang, and the £800,000 had been recovered. The defendant had several convictions for petty theft. Canada suggested a likely sentence of three to five years. Norway two to three years and Denmark six years. Spain said four years, two months and a day, and Ireland five to six years for a not guilty plea. England said ten to 14 years, or five years in a young offenders' institution, and Texas ten
years.
In a case or burglary of a stately home, goods worth £90,000 were taken and later recovered from a man with a substantial record of theft. Canada said it would impose a jail sentence of five to seven years, Kenya three years plus hard labour, Denmark one to two years and the Cook Islands probation of three months. Texas suggested ten years' jail and England suggested from three to seven years.
Likely sentences for a domestic assault case, where the husband broke his wife's nose, where there was a long history of disputes and previous charges of assault, ranged from between six and eighteen months in Canada to 30 or 40 days in Denmark, possibly suspended. Six months' imprisonment was likely in Kenya, a fine in Scotland and ten days' jail in Texas. The likely sentence in England is six months, suspended for two years.
Peter Michael Muller, an attorney in Munich and chairman of the association's criminal law committee which conducted the survey said the findings would help practitioners in transnational criminal law and could lead to sentencing reforms.
Crime no. 1: Bank robbery
Crime no. 2:
______________
Crime no. 3:
______________
Canada
3-5 years
Denmark
6 years
England
10-14 years (or 5 years in a young offenders' institution)
Ireland
5-6 years
Norway
2-3 years
Spain
4 years, 2 months, l day
Texas
10 years
17. Reading A glamorous profession?
Put together this article from Today by rearranging the sections. (The first section is a.)
Where legals dare
a
b
c d
e
f
In the TV series LA Law, courtroom drama is all in a day's work. The reality in England is slightly different. Barristers spend many hours in court, but few cases are action-packed. And a solicitor's day is more likely to be spent reading out a will than solving a juicy murder.
But spokesman for the Bar Council Graham McMillan believes a life in law can be very glamorous. 'In higher courts you can get a lot of courtroom drama, and barristers have to be very quick on their feet.'...
Both careers take the same initial route - and only the cream of students need apply.
It's a fact lost on scores of people who, seduced by LA Law's exciting plots, write into The Law Society's careers officer Jenny Goddard. 'Things are very different here,'... says Jenny. 'A lot of people, though, do see the Crown Court as very exciting. It's hard to generalise because there are so many different branches of the profession, from personal legal advice to selling your house.'
Solicitors do, however, present cases in magistrate's courts. Getting into the profession is not easy. There are only 70,000 solicitors in Britain, and 7,000 barristers - just over 1,000 of whom are women.
The main difference between British and American lawyers is that the US legal eagles are all-rounders who both prepare and present cases. Here, solicitors do the litigation (prepare the case) and barristers do the advocacy (present the case) in Crown Court and upwards.
/adapted from Key Words in the Media. Bill Mascull/
