10. Say if the following statements are true or false.
Comment on the true statements and correct the false ones.
A public law may forbid both omissions and acts
An omission viewed as “victimless” cannot be considered a wrong against society.
To be convicted of a crime the guilt of an accused of the crime need not be proved.
The failure to perform a contractual obligation results in criminal culpability.
The breach of a legal duty never results in criminal culpability.
Sometimes an act may be considered a common law offense although that act is not forbidden by statute.
An act or omission cannot constitute a crime unless they are annexed with a certain punishment.
When applied, provision for imprisonment in a statute automatically makes an act criminal in nature.
Fundamental fairness requires that an accused should be held criminally responsible for the conduct which cannot reasonably be understood to be proscribed.
Prescribing a punishment for an act does not prohibit it.
Discussion
11. Define what the crime is. Use the following words and phrases:
act;
omission;
to violate a public law;
to be injurious to the victim;
judicial proceeding;
to punish;
to be “victimless”;
to be a wrong against society.
12. Divide the text into logical parts and entitle each of them.
13. Work in pairs:
a) Look at the following words and phrases and think of a story that might combine them all. You may reorder them in any way you want to using any form of the verb:
many American jurisdictions;
they constituted a common law crime;
it also had hurtful and immoral tendencies;
they may not be punished;
this result often occurs;
it tends to injure;
it required state interference;
it only was punished as a misdemeanor.
b) When you have decided upon the story, tell it to your partner. Then listen to that of your partner. Ask each other as many questions as you can to learn further details or clarify some points.
14. Give a summary of the text.
15. Speak individually or arrange a discussion on the following.
Even omissions sometimes constitute a crime.
Sometimes the common law crimes are not recognized.
Case study
16. Scrutinize the situation and provide detailed and motivated answers to the questions given below.
Identify key points in the article and extract information from it to pass on to somebody else.
CANADA GOES TO POT
Vancouver
Back in the 1920s, when the United States had Prohibition, quite a few Canadians grew rich running booze over the border to intoxicate their neighbours. Now they are trying their luck with marijuana. Over the past decade, British Columbia, a Canadian province, has earned a reputation for growing the most potent marijuana in North America. The drug is said to be the province's most lucrative export crop, worth an estimated C$2 billion ($1.4 billion) a year.
Given British Columbia's cool soggy climate, this may seem odd: the strongest cannabis generally comes from tropical countries, such as Jamaica. No longer. The sophisticated growers of British Columbia use plant genetics to achieve higher yields and potency. Whereas Jamaica's strongest ganja contains 12% tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound that produces a “high”, the new stuff from British Columbia has, on average, 15-20%. This has made “BC bud” America's pot of choice.
The incentive to export is great. A pound of pot can fetch about $6,000 in California, up to twice what it fetches in Canada. So British Columbia's cannabis farmers find ingenious ways to smuggle south most of the estimated 800 tonnes they grow each year. The United States border patrol reckons that dope-smuggling has soared tenfold in the past two years alone.
Another reason for this booming export business, grumble the Canadian and American police, is the leniency of British Columbia's courts. Plenty of people are prosecuted: the police laid 2,329charges for growing and trafficking marijuana in 1997, and have stepped up their efforts since. But, according to the Vancouver Sun, only one in five of those convicted of growing marijuana in Vancouver over the past three years received a jail sentence. One in four served no time in jail, and paid no fine; and 58% received a fine that averaged less than C$2,700. The average pot grower, who pockets C$150,000 – 250,000 per crop, treats such light fines, complains one Canadian policeman, “simply as the cost of doing business—a business licence”.
Nor do locals seem much bothered. Marijuana is still considered by many to be a relatively harmless drug grown by ageing hippies with beards and beads. Many British Columbians smoke pot regularly, or have at least tried it. In a recent poll, no less than 63% thought possession of marijuana should be decriminalised, more than in any other Canadian province [14].
Questions:
Why is the incentive to grow and export marijuana is so great among British Columbia's cannabis farmers?
How do they manage to grow strong cannabis in spite of British Columbia's cool soggy climate?
Why are British Columbia's courts so lenient in prosecuting marijuana growers and dope-smugglers?
Is trafficking marijuana over the border dangerous for dope-smugglers?
Do many marijuana growers receive jail sentences in British Columbia?
Why does the average pot grower treat light fines “simply as the cost of doing business—a business licence?”