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Файл:Английский язык для студентов-юристов и историков = English for Students of Law and History. Учебное пособие
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houses of Congress or by a national convention called by Congress at the request of
the legislatures in two-thirds of the states. Once proposed, an amendment does not
take effect unless it is ratified either by the legislatures in three-fourths of the states or
by special ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states.
The US Constitution consists of the Preamble, seven articles and twenty six
amendments, the first ten of them called collectively the Bill of Rights and adopted
under the popular pressure in 1791. When the Constitution was first proposed in
1787, there was widespread dissatisfaction because it didn’t contain guarantees of
certain basic freedoms and individual rights. The Constitution consolidated those
gains of the revolution that were advantageous for the capitalist class. Significantly,
nothing was said about the elementary bourgeois-democratic freedoms. In December,
1791, the Congress adopted ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of
Rights, which contains most of the basic rights. The Bill also enumerated *what the
government controlled by the oligarchy was not going to be allowed to do. It was, of
course, an important democratic gain for the people at that time. But nowadays some
of these ten amendments are relatively unimportant.
The First Amendment protects the freedoms of religion, speech, press,
assembly, and petition. The Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms. The
Third Amendment protects against quartering of soldiers in private homes, and the
Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The Fifth Amendment provides a right to due process of law and gives rights to
accused people, including protection against self-incrimination. The sixth
Amendment provides the rights to a lawyer, an impartial jury, and a speedy trial in
criminal cases.
The Seventh Amendment provides for jury trials in civil cases.
The Eighth Amendment bars cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail
or fines. The Ninth Amendment declares that the rights spelled out in the Constitution
are not all the rights that people have. Finally, the Tenth Amendment reserves to the
states and the people any powers not belonging to the federal government.
The Bill of Rights was designed to protect Americans against the power of the
federal government. Nothing in the Constitution specifically requires state
governments to abide by the Bill of Rights. But in interpreting the Fourteenth
Amendment, passed after the Civil War, the Supreme Court has extended most Bill of
Rights protections to the states.
In addition to the Bill of Rights, later amendments provide other important
rights. The Thirteenth Amendment forbids slavery and outlaws involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime. The Fourteenth Amendment requires equal
protection of the laws for all citizens. It also provides that no state can deprive any
citizen of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
Several amendments protect and broaden the right to vote. The Fifteenth
Amendment forbids denying the right to vote based on race or colour. The Nineteenth
Amendment gives women the right to vote. The Twenty-fourth Amendment gives
citizens of Washington D.C. the right to vote in presidential elections, and the
Twenty-sixth Amendments gives all people 18 years of age or older the right to vote.
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*«live constitution» — «живая конституция»
*what the government controlled by the oligarchy was not going to be allowed
to do. ... что правительству, которое контролировалось олигархией, не
разрешалось делать.
• Match the Russian to the English equivalents
прочность,
выносливость
regulations
рабство
bourgeois
существенно,
в сущности
dissatisfaction
перечислять
to abide
упорядочение,
правило
advantageous
буржуазный
to enumerate
распространенный
essentially
придерживаться
to extend
неудовлетворённость,
недовольство
endurance
лишать
servitude
выгодный
wide-spread
расширять,
распространять
to deprive
• Work in pairs. Say the beginning of the word combinations and let your
group mate complete them.
in American political ……………..; the set of ………………; Supreme
Court …………….; to be aimed at …………………..; to regard as …………………;
wide-spread ………………..; guarantees of basic …………………; to
consolidate ………………….; to be advantageous………………;
the elementary ………………..; ability to adapt …………………; the freedoms of
religion, ……………….; to bar ………………; without …………….….;
to forbid ………………..; the rights to a ………………..
THE ENGLISH AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS
Differences between the English and American Constitutions:
1. In America the President is in practice more of a ruler than the English King
but his legal powers are more restricted.
2. The President can veto legislation, and the English King has legally an
absolute but in practice a very shadowy power of veto which has not been exercised
since long times.
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3. The English Constitution is flexible, the American — rigid, i.e. in England
all laws can be altered with ease, and in America complicated machinery is necessary
for the alteration of the Constitution.
The American Constitution is written; the English Constitution is unwritten.
5. The English Crown is inherited; the American President is elected for a
term.
6. The American President is not dependent on the vote of the Congress; in
England the Cabinet is dependent on the vote of the House of Commons. In America,
therefore, the Executive is not responsible to the Legislature. England is the only
country possessing hereditary legislators.
• Answer the following questions.
1. Who is more of a ruler in practice: the President in America or the English
King?
2. Does the English King (Queen) have a power of veto?
3. Can the English laws be altered with ease?
4. In which document can you find the whole of the Constitution of Britain?
5. Is the English King (Queen) elected ?
6. Who is dependent on the vote of the Congress?
7. What is the only country possessing hereditary legislators?
ENGLISH CRIMINAL LAW
Criminal Law is that part of the law of the land which is concerned with
crimes.
The English criminal law has never been reduced to a single code but many
particular topics have been codified by separate statutes, for example, the Larceny
Act (1916), which deals with various forms of theft and related offences such as
fraudulent conversion and the offences against the Person Act (1861), which covers
many forms of assault and personal violence. Criminal statutes call for judicial
interpretation, just as a comprehensive criminal code would do, and authoritative
rulings by the courts on the meaning of statutes are as much part of the criminal law
as are the statutes themselves.
A crime, according to the doctrine of the Common Law, is made up of an
outward act and the state of mind of the criminal. He must have a guilty mind or
*mens rea, in addition to committing the physical act which is forbidden. This
doctrine of mens rea is still of importance, particularly in some Common Law crimes,
but in many statutory crimes it has ceased to be of much significance. Every crime, it
may be said, has its own kind of guilty mind. This clearly exists if the intention is to
commit the criminal act, knowing it to be such, but every person is taken to intend the
probable consequences of his act and so a person who treats another so violently that
he jumps out of a window to escape and is killed by the fall is guilty of murder.
Sometimes mens rea may take the form of negligence or mental inadvertence, as in
manslaughter by neglect. Then the mental state must be proved to exist, as in the
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crime of burglary. In the case of murder the necessary mens rea is expressed by the
phrase “malice aforethought”. This phrase does not imply that murder can be
committed only if it is premeditated. Nor need malice in the ordinary sense of spite or
ill-will be present in the mind of the murderer. An act is said in the criminal law to be
done maliciously if it is done intentionally without a just cause for excuse.
*mens rea – лат. виновная воля, вина
• Find the words in the text below that mean:
……………………..
- to bring down
or lower
……………………..
- a logical result or
effect
……………………..
- a violent
attack
……………………..
- a plan, idea, or
purpose
……………………..
- the crime of
stealing
……………………..
- carelessness
……………………..
- towards the
outside
……………………..
- the desire to do
harm or cause
mischief to others
……………………..
- acting with
intent to
deceive
……………………..
- something done
unintentionally
……………………..
- to bring or
come to an end
……………………..
- not deliberately
planned killing
……………………..
- ill-will
……………………..
- premeditated
THE GARDEN CITY OF ASIA
Singapore welcomes visitors and tourists. Please respect the laws of this
country. Here are some points to remember:
SMOKING: Cigarette smoking is a danger to health. It is prohibited in lifts,
cinemas, theatres and all government offices and on buses. Fines of up to $500.
LITTER: Singapore is the Garden City of Asia -clean and green. Dropping
litter in public places is forbidden. You can be fined up to $500 for dropping litter even if it is only a sweet wrapper or a cigarette end.
LONG HAIR: Male visitors should not have hair longer than the top of their
shirt collar. Long-haired men will be served last of all in government offices.
DRUGS: You can be fined or put in prison for possessing illegal drugs. The
penalty for possessing and trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin or morphine is
death.
GAMBLING: Only official horserace betting and lotteries are permitted. No
other forms of gambling are allowed - even in private houses.
JAYWALKING: You must always use the pedestrian crossings. You can be
fined $50 for crossing the street less than 50 metres from a crossing, or for crossing
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on the red man. These laws also apply to children who are old enough to be in the
street on their own.
• Right, wrong or don't know?
a) Tourists do not have to follow these laws.
b) It is illegal to smoke in Singapore.
c) You can be fined $500 for smoking on a bus.
d) Dropping litter carries the death penalty.
e) It is illegal to have long hair in Singapore.
f) Women with long hair are served last in government offices.
g) You can be executed for buying and selling heroin.
h) You are only allowed to gamble in your own home.
i) Children are not allowed to cross the road on their own.
j) You should cross the road only when the pedestrian light is green.
A VERY BEAUTIFUL STORY
• Read two dialogues of the policemen discussing Gentleman Jim's
cassette recording.
Part 1
Inspector: Morning, Sergeant. What have you got for me today?
Sergeant: We've got that tape from Gentleman Jim, sir. It was sent to us
yesterday. They want to know if it's all right to send it to his wife.
Inspector: And is it?
Sergeant: I don't know sir. I'm sure there's a message hidden in the tape, but I
don't know what it is. It's been examined by half the police force in London, and
nothing was found. But there is something very peculiar about that tape.
Inspector: Well, what is it?
Sergeant: Well, sir, he talks about happy memories and things. And really,
Inspector, I don't think Gentleman Jim really feels like that about anything. I don't
think he means any of it. I'm sure there is something else on the tape, and it's hidden
in what he says. But I can't find it.
Inspector: The tape is all right, is it? It wasn't tampered with when Gentleman
Jim recorded the message?
Sergeant: Right you are sir, it's waiting for you.
Jim: Hello, my dear wife. I want you to listen very carefully to this recording.
Play it over and over again, and enjoy all the beautiful things I want to remind you
about. Don't worry about me, just think about the beautiful things, and I'm sure you
will be very happy, and you will find something very comforting in my words. Are you
ready? I want to remind you of some really happy memories. Do you remember the
day when we first met? You were very beautiful. There was a lot of sunshine that day,
do you remember? There aren't many girls who are very beautiful, are there? But you
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were lovely. And our children. They' re very beautiful. Two lovely girls and a
handsome boy, although they’re all in prison now. I remember when our son was
small, he had lovely blue eyes and very beautiful gold curly hair. Do you remember
the toys he used to play with? I remember his teddy bear, and also some very
beautiful bricks which he used to play with on the bedroom floor. Those were happy
days.
Do you remember, dear wife, the first dance we went to? You wore a blue dress
and you looked very beautiful in the moonlight, and we danced until the morning, and
then I took you home on my motorbike. Your mother was waiting for us, and she
looked very beautiful. The next day I asked you to marry me. I don't think your
mother was very pleased. She wanted us to buy the house next to her, do you
remember? But we wanted a bigger house, with a very beautiful garden and we found
one. I like our house very much. I remember coming home one day in the winter, and
looking at our house. It looked very beautiful under the white snow, and I knew that
you were waiting in the kitchen with a cup of hot soup and my dear friend Ginger.
Poor Ginger. He has been in prison, too. He says that you are very beautiful.
The important thing in prison is to have happy memories. And I've got
wonderful memories. Do you remember Ginger's cat? It was a very beautiful big
black cat. Ginger liked it very much. He bought it fish to eat, and a very beautiful red
ribbon, which he tied around its neck. I always liked Ginger's cat.
I'm sorry I did not want to see you when you came. I wanted to send you this
message instead. When I come home, I will buy you some expensive perfume, or very
beautiful things. And walk into the country, sit down beside the river, under a very
beautiful tree, and think about me. Your loving Gentleman Jim.
Inspector: Is that all?
Sergeant: Yes, that's all.
Inspector: You' re quite right. There is something very peculiar about that
message.
Part 2
Inspector: Well, I think Gentleman Jim has hidden a message in the tape.
Sergeant: Yes sir, so do I. He keeps telling his wife to play the message over
and over again.
Inspector: He tells her that she'll find something. What do you think he means
by that?
Sergeant: Well sir, perhaps there is money hidden somewhere, and this
message tells his wife where to look?
Inspector: I wish he' d tell us where to look. Then perhaps we'd find the
message.
Sergeant: I think he has told us, Inspector.
Inspector: What do you mean?
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• Work out Gentleman Jim's message. Have you got any idea? If not,
read the end of the dialogue.
Sergeant: Well, did you notice that he keeps saying the same words over
again?
Inspector: Yes, of course. He says everything is very beautiful.
Sergeant: Mm, that's right. And he tells his wife to think about these beautiful
things. That must be a clue.
Inspector: Well, what does he say? His wife is beautiful, the girls are
beautiful, his son is beautiful and the bricks were beautiful...
Sergeant: That's a very funny thing to say.
Inspector: Yes, it is. But wife, girls, son, bricks. It doesn't make any sense.
‘Very beautiful bricks,’ he said. It's nonsense!
Sergeant: Just a minute. Do you remember what Gentleman Jim said at the
end of the recording?
Inspector: What was that?
Sergeant: He said, “think about what came after all these beautiful things.” I
think that's the answer, Inspector. Play it again, and every time he says “very
beautiful” write down the next word. I think we'll find Gentleman Jim's message.
Inspector: Right Sergeant. That's very clever of you. Well done!
• When the police had worked out the message, they went to Gentleman
Jim's house. Here is a list of things that had happened. Can you sort it out so
that it makes sense?
a) The house had disappeared.
b) His wife was sleeping in the kennel.
c) The dog was empty.
d) The gold was in prison.
e) The rosebush was chasing mice.
f) His motorbike had been pulled out of the ground.
g) Ginger's cat had packed her clothes and gone to France.
h) His son was in the hole by the rosebush saying, “You are too late, I have
gone to France with Ginger.”
i) A note had been driven away.
• There were lots of stolen things hidden in Gentleman Jim's house. The
names are hidden in the sentences below. Can you find them?
For example: We went to the beach in a taxi. china
a) I keep hearing something.
b) He is getting old.
c) You are on Mike's side, and I am on David's side.
d) He can play as much music as he likes.
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e) He is very good, you know, at chess.
f) I gave him one yesterday.
g) There's a taxicab race, let's get out of the way.
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