Text 9. Trial

I. Read and translate the text.

A trial is the cornerstone of justice. There are 2 parties to a trial: the defence and the prosecution. Each party has a lawyer.

There is a difference in criminal proceedings between countries with a common law legal system (the Anglo-Saxon legal system) and countries with a civil law legal system (the continental, or European legal system).

In a common law legal system, the accused is considered innocent until his guilt is proved. In the European legal system, on the contrary, the accused is considered guilty until his innocence is proved.

The role of the judge in these 2 systems is different, too. In the Anglo-American legal procedure the judge is an impartial arbiter between 2 opponents, and the accused is convicted by the public prosecutor. In the European criminal procedure, the judge's role is to convict the accused.

Neither of the 2 systems is perfect. Yet, American lawyers believe that their legal system has an advantage, since it protects the accused from judges and from illegal prosecution by the government.

II. Questions to be answered.

1. What is the importance of trial?

2. How many parties are there to a trial?

3. Is there a difference in criminal proceedings between countries with a common law legal system and countries with a civil law legal system?

4. What does the difference consist in?

5. Is any of the two approaches perfect?

6. Why do American lawyers think that their approach has an advantage?

Lesson 5 The Study of Crime and Criminals Text 1. Criminology

I. Read and translate the text.

Criminology is the study of crime. It studies the causes of crime and the principles of crime control. Criminology appeared in the late 18th century when society began to show interest in the treatment of criminals.

Criminology uses different methods and techniques, such as collection and interpretation of statistics, case study and sociological research.

Criminology has a great practical value. The findings of criminology are used in the work of lawyers, judges, legislators and prison officials. Criminology focuses on the person of the criminal and helps to understand the nature of criminals better. It is also concerned with the study of victims of crime which is called victimology.

II. Questions to be answered.

1. What is criminology and what does it study?

2. When did criminology appear?

3. What methods and techniques are used in criminology?

4. Where are the findings of criminology used?

5. Does criminology focus only on the criminal?

Text 2. The Causes of Crime

I. Read and translate the text.

There are several theories of the causes of crime: the religious theory, the biological theory, the theory of social environment and the modern theory.

The religious theory is the oldest. According to this theory, it is the devil that makes people commit crimes.

Next comes the biological theory. According to this theory, criminals are born and can be recognised by appearance (a retreating forehead, a square chin, rough facial features, the ears that stick out, long hands and muscular body and even left-handedness).

The theory of social environment stresses social reasons for crime, such as poverty and insecurity.

The modern theory explains crime by a number of factors - biological, psychological, cultural, economic and political. It is the most comprehensive theory nowadays.

II. Questions to be answered.

1. What are the most popular theories of the causes of crime?

2. Which of the theories is the oldest?

3. How does the religious theory explain crime?

4. How is crime explained by the biological theory?

5. How can a criminal be recognised according to the biological theory?

6. What are the main causes of crime according to the social environment theory?

7. What is characteristic of the modern theory of crime?

8. Which of the theories seems to be the most convincing nowadays? Why?