Administration of Justice in Great Britain

1. Persons offending against the law are summoned before a court of law. The summons issued by the court states the charges moved against the offender by the persons sueing him. When a defendant is brought before a court the charge is read out to him and he is asked whether he pleads guilty or not guilty. If he pleads guilty he is sentenced by the court. If he pleads not guilty, a jury of 12 persons must be formed and summoned to attend the court.

2. The trial begins with opening the case for the prosecuting party and hearing the evidence of the witnesses for the prosecution. On the completion of the plaintiff’s case and evidence is heard in support of it.

3. The accused is entitled to be defended by the counsel. Witnesses for the prosecution may be cross-examined by the accused or his counsel. The accused may call witnesses or give evidence in his own defence. At the conclusion of the evidence, and after speeches on both sides, the judge sums up the case to the jury. The jury consider the verdict. If they decide that the accused is not guilty, he is immediately discharged. If the jury return the verdict of guilty, sentence is pronounced by the judge.

4. The following punishments for crime can be inflicted: life imprisonment, imprisonment consisting in corrective training or preventive detention; detention centres -1 for juvenile delinquents - 2, persons between 16 and 21, convicted of offences punishable with imprisonment; fine, a money penalty, generally imposed for minor offences; probation - 3 - placing the offender under the supervision of a probation officer-4 and so on.

5. The defendant may appeal against the sentence to the Court of Appeal up to the House of Lords, which is the supreme judicial body of Great Britain.

Notes:

1-detention centre - центр заключения

2-juvenile delinquent - несовершеннолетний правонарушитель

3-probation - испытание

4-probation officer - инспектор, наблюдающий за преступником, направленным на работу

ВАРИАНТ II

I. Перепишите следующие предложения, найдите и подчеркните в них Gerund. Предложения переведите на русский язык, обращая вни­мание на функции герундия.

1. The preliminary investigation is aimed at detecting cri­mes, at disclosing and exposing persons guilty of them, at inves­tigating all the circumstances of cases and at taking crime pre­vention measures.

2. After passing a sentence the judge closed the trial.

 

II. Перепишите следующие предложения, подчеркните в каждом из них глагол-сказуемое и определите его видовременную форму и залог. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. A great concern was given over the problem of social reha­bilitation of the released prisoners.

2. The efforts have been made in the USA to provide intensive individual study of typical juvenile delinquents.

3. The ways of creating a human and effective criminal justice system are being discussed.

4. Man's behaviour is influenced tremendously by his environ­ment.

 

III. Перепишите следующие предложения, найдите в них и под­черкните инфинитив. Переведите предложения на русский язык, обращая внимание на функцию инфинитива.

1. То detect a crime means to expose all its attending featu­res and identify the criminal.

2. A Boston cobbler John Augustus was the first to exercise the practice of probation.

3. The problems to be solved at the next session of the UN Ge­neral Assembly are of great international importance.

 

IV. Перепишите следующие предложения, найдите в них независи­мый (самостоятельный) причастный оборот и подчеркните его. Пере­ведите предложения, учитывая особенности перевода независимого причастного оборота на русский язык.

1. The Supreme Court of the USA consists of 9 justices, one of them being appointed as the Chief justice.

2. Elections in Great Britain being universal, any British citizen from the age of 18 elects a single member to the House of Commons.

V. Перепишите следующие сложные предложения, найдите в них придаточные предложения условия и подчеркните их. Переведите предложения, учитывая особенности перевода условных предложений на русский язык.

 

1. If a Bill has a majority of vote in the House of Commons it will go before the House of Lords.

2. If we had no civil law, corporeal relations would be regu­lated in some other way.

3. If this man had not violated the law he would not have be­en imprisoned.

 

VI. Прочитайте и письменно переведите текст.