Interpol

What is an “international criminal”? It is not a new type of wrongdoer. The term is simply one of practical convenience. For example, if a man kills a woman in London and then 1) ..… in the USA, he becomes an “international criminal”. If the term were based on some 2) … …, we should recognize the existence of such a thing as international crime.

At the beginning of the 20-th century it was necessary that the 3) … … should be created 4) … … … and to exchange ideas and methods between the police forces in the world. It came into being 5) … … … … International Criminal Police Commission in 1923 and worked until the beginning of World War II.

In 1946 the old members of the ICPC which had been disrupted by the war met in Belgium 6) … … the organization. In 1956 it was 7) … the “International Criminal Police Organization – Interpol”.

Interpol is, in fact, a private organization. It has never been recognized or established by any 8) … … or 9) … and has no police powers. Because of Interpol’s cooperation with the UN, 10) … in the area of drugs, Interpol was recognized as an intergovernmental organization.

The general aims of Interpol are 11) … in its Constitution. The combating of international criminals 12) … … … … … existing in different countries is divided into three distinct activities: the exchange of police information, the identification of 13) … or 14) …by the police, the arrest of those who are 15) … .

Interpol also fights 16) … … and 17) … … and still assists a number of nations in the continuing search for wanted Nazi war criminals.

Being one of 18) … … … … … … … …, Interpol, like any other police force is under governmental control to safeguard 19) … … … of every citizen. It operates according to 20) … … … … … and adheres to the highest ethical standards.

Exercise 23. Translate the dialogue and learn it by heart.

CRIME & PUNISHMENT

A: Do you think we should be tougher on crime?

B: Well, it depends on what you mean.

A: For example, we could bring back the death penalty for murder, give longer prison sentences for lesser offences and lock up juvenile offenders.

B: Those really sound like Draconian measures. Firstly, what do you do about miscarriages of justice if you’ve already put innocent people to death?

A: You’d only use capital punishment if you were absolutely sure that you’d convicted the right person.

B: But, there’ve been many cases of wrongful conviction where people have been imprisoned for many years. The authorities were sure at the time, but later it was shown that the evidence was unreliable. In some cases, it’d been fabricated by the police.

A: Well, no system of justice can be perfect, but surely there’s a good case for longer prison sentences to deter serious crime.

B: I doubt whether they could act as an effective deterrent while the detection rate is so low. The best way to prevent crime is to convince people who commit it that they’re going to be caught. It doesn’t make sense to divert all your resources into the prison system.

A: But if you detect more crimes, you’ll still need prisons. In my reckoning, if we could lock up more juvenile criminals, they’d learn that they couldn’t get away with it. Soft sentences will merely encourage them to do it again. 

B: Yes, but remember that prisons are often schools for criminals. To remove crime from society, you really have to tackle its causes.