Modul 5 unit 1

	Topic: Criminal law.
	Grammar: Compound and Complex sentences. The Conjunction.

CRIMINAL LAW

Criminal law is the part of the law which is concerned with crimes. Criminal law may be defined by three basic elements. First, it prevents harm to society and its mem­bers. Second, it specifies what conduct is considered criminal. Third, it identifies prescribed sanctions for criminal conduct.

The first element, preventing harm, implies that a central purpose of criminal law is to protect society from various activities that might injure its members or social institutions. Vandalism, murder, assault, robbery, theft of personal property are examples of harms typically asso­ciated with violations of criminal law. Criminal law provides social control for society.

The second element, specification of what conduct, is criminal, refers to the particular act or acts defined as illegal. Criminal law provides that every outlawed act is separately detailed and described.

The third aspect of the definition of criminal law involves prescriptions for punishment. Criminal law presumes that one cannot be punished for committing a crime unless one has been convicted of violating a law.

Crime is conduct that society classifies as illegal, it is a vio­lation of criminal law. To qualify as crime, behavior must be speci­fically defined in the law, be enforced by some political body and as­sociated with prescribed penalties.

Usually, crimes are classified as either felonies or misdemeanors. Often, the distinctions between them are made on the basis of the length of sentence imposed for the crime. Felonies are most serious crimes and carry lengthier sentences than misdemeanors, such as imprisonment in a state prison for several years. Misdemeanors are less serious crimes for which fines and shor­ter jail time may be imposed.

Vocabulary

to be defined	-	визначати
to prevent harm	-	запобігати шкоди
society	-	суспільство, громада
to specify	-	встановлювати
conduct	-	поведінка
to imply	-	припускати, передбачати
to injure	-	пошкодити, образити
assault	-	напад, атака
robbery	-	грабіж
theft	-	крадіжка
violation	-	порушення
to refer to	-	віднести до
outlawed /illegal act	-	незаконний акт, дія
punishment	-	кара, покарання
to be convicted of smth	-	бути засудженим
penalty	-	стягнення, штраф
felony	-	кримінальний злочин, фелонія
misdemeanor	-	провина, злочин,
to impose sentence	-	винести вирок
prison /jail	-	тюрма, в’язниця
imprisonment	-	ув’язнювати