Text 2. Punishment

There are several kinds of punishment available to court. In civil cases the most common punishment is fine. For criminal offences fines are also often used when the offence is not a very serious one and when the offender has not been in trouble before. Another kind of punishment available in some countries is community service. This requires the offender to certain amount of unpaid work, usually for a social institution such as hospital. For more serious crimes the usual punishment is imprisonment.

Some prison sentences are suspended: the offender is not sent to prison if he keeps out of trouble for a fixed period of time, but if he does offend again both suspended sentence and any new one will be imposed. The lengths of sentences vary from a few days to a lifetime. However, a life sentence may allow the prisoner to be released after a suitably long period if a review (parole) board agrees his detention no longer serves a purpose. In some countries, such as the Netherlands, living conditions in prison are fairly good because it is felt that deprivation of liberty is punishment in itself and should so be reduced that the prisoner deters the possibility of the re-education and reforming himself. In other countries, conditions are rather bad. Britain and the USA are trying to solve the shortage of space by allowing private companies to open prisons.

In some countries there is also corporal punishment (physical). In Saudi Arabia theft and possession of alcohol may be punished by cutting off the offender’s hand or foot. They believe that it deters others from committing such crimes.

The ultimate penalty is death. But many countries have abolished it or ceased to use the death penalty because the innocent people can be executed by mistake.

I. Answer the questions.

1. What kinds of punishment are mentioned in the text?

2. What punishment is the most common in civil cases?

3. What does the ‘community service’ require from the offender?

4. What does it mean: ‘some prison sentences are suspended’?

5. Why do some countries have abolished the ultimate penalty death?

II. Are these statements true or false according to the text?

1. Fines are not used for criminal offences.

2. Serious crimes foresee for the offender to be sentenced to death penalty in all countries.

3. Prison sentence can be suspended when the offender does not get in trouble for certain period of time.

4. The length of sentences differs according to the seriousness of the crime.

5. Living conditions in prisons are very bad in all countries.

III. Insert the proper word into the following sentences and explain its meaning with the help of the dictionary.

1. I believe that my friend is … because he killed in self-defense.

2. The length of … varies from a few days to a lifetime.

3. Serious crimes foresee … as a usual punishment.

4. The Netherlands provide fairly good living conditions in a … .

5. … can result in cutting off the offender’s hand or foot in Saudi Arabia.

IV. Find a proper definition for the following words.

1. fine	a) the action or crime of stealing
2. imprisonment	b) culpable of or responsible for a specified wrongdoing
3. life sentence	c) the state of being imprisoned
4. theft	d) a sum of money exacted as a penalty by a court of law or other authority
5. guilty	e) a punishment of life imprisonment or of imprisonment for a specified long period

V. Put the right proposition after each verb.

1. John confessed … shoplifting.

2. Tom was accused … bigamy.

3. Geoffrey was charged … assault.

4. Sven was convicted … murder.

5. Tony was found guilty … kidnapping.

6. Mary was sentenced … 4-year imprisonment … smuggling.

7. Nick was arrested … possession of marijuana.

VI. Put the verbs to steal or to rob into the correct tense form.

1. Last night an armed gang … the post office.

2. My handbag … at the theatre yesterday.

3. Every year large number of banks … .

4. She regularly … from her employees.

5. They stole …$5,000.

VII. Give a short summary of the text in English.

VIII. Retell the text.

Essential vocabulary

accused	обвинувачений
administer	управляти, вести (справи)
adversarial system	принцип змагання
appoint	призначати (на посаду)
argue	обговорювати; переконувати; свідчити, бути доказом
argument	дискусія, доказ, аргумент
burden	ноша, тягар
charge	обвинувачення
compelling	непереборний
compose	складати
corporate entity	спільне підприємство
counsel	радити, рекомендувати
court setting	судове засідання
defense attorney	адвокат захисту
detail	удаватися в подробиці, деталізувати
disinterested	незацікавлений
dispose	закінчувати, завершувати
dispute	спір
elect	вибирати
event	подія, випадок
evidence	свідчення, доказ
incriminate	обвинувачувати (у злочині), ставити за провину, інкримінувати
judge	суддя
jury panel	журі (список) присяжних засідателів
panel of judges	склад суддів
party	сторона (у суді)
reasonable	розсудливий, прийнятний
settle	вирішувати (спори)
sound	розумний
suspect	підозрюваний, підозріла особа
unbiased	неупереджений
venue	судова округа, де має слухатися справа; місце збору (зустрічі)