Unit 14 Law Enforcement Bodies — КиберПедия 

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Unit 14 Law Enforcement Bodies

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Before you read

Discuss these questions.

1 How do you understand the term ‘Law enforcement’?

2 How is the system of enforcing the law organized in Russia?

3 What judicial institutions deal with the law enforcement?

4 What powers did they have?

 

Text A

Role of Government

 

Governments have many ways of making sure that citizens obey the law. They make the public aware of what the law is and try to encourage social support for law and order. They use police forces to investigate crimes and catch criminals. They authorize courts to complete the investigation of criminal and civil offences and to pass sentences to punish the guilty and deter others. And they make efforts to re-educate and reform people who have broken the law. Which of these is most effective in enforcing the law?

The laws of all countries are to be found in written records – the legal codes of countries with continental systems, the statutes and case judgements of common law countries, warnings on official forms, and notices in public buildings. Many people do not know where to find these records and do not find it easy to read them. But ignorance of the law is almost never a defence for breaking it. Governments usually expect citizens to be aware of the laws which affect their lives. Sometimes this seems very harsh, for example, when the law is very technical. Shopkeepers in England have been prosecuted for selling books on Sunday, although they were allowed to sell magazines. However, there are many laws, such as those prohibiting theft, assault and dangerous driving, which simply reflect social and moral attitudes to everyday behaviour. In such cases a person knows he is breaking the law, even if he doesn't know exactly which law it is.

 


Text B

Role of Police Force

 

The word POLICE means, generally, the arrangements made in all civilized countries to ensure that the inhabitants keep the peace and obey the law. The word also denotes the force of peace officers (or police) employed for this purpose.

The police have many functions in the legal process. Though they are mainly concerned with criminal law, they may also be used to enforce judgements made in civil courts. As well as gathering information for offences to be prosecuted in the courts, the police have wide powers to arrest, search and question people suspected of crimes and to control the actions of members of the public during public demonstrations and assemblies. In some countries, the police have judicial functions; for example, they may make a decision as to guilt in a driving offence and impose a fine, without the involvement of a court. In Britain, when someone is found in possession of marijuana, the police may confiscate it and issue a formal warning rather than refer the matter to a court.

The mere presence of the police is a factor in deterring people from committing offence.

A just legal system needs an independent, honest police force. In countries where the public trusts the police force, they are more likely to report crimes, and it seems that they are also more likely to be law-abiding. Because of their wide powers it would not be difficult for corrupt police forces to falsify evidence against a suspect, to mistreat someone they have arrested, or to accept bribes in return for overlooking offences. There have been numerous cases of police violence against foreign suspects, many of who are not told of their rights in a language which they can understand. In the Birmingham Six case, British police officers obtained confessions from men suspected of bombing a pub by beating them up. In the United States, illegally obtained evidence is not valid in court, but in Britain the court decides whether it is fair to accept such evidence on a case-by-case basis. A
confession obtained by force would not be allowed, but one obtained by
trickery might.

Legal systems usually have codes of conduct for the police, limiting the time and the methods which they can use to question suspects and guaranteeing the suspects access to independent lawyers. In Britain, however, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, and especially the Prevention of Terrorism Act, give the police some powers to delay access to lawyers. The Police Complaints Authority was set up in 1984 to supervise the investigation of allegations of police misconduct. No police officer or former police officer may be appointed to the authority. However, investigations themselves are carried out by police officers. Of course, private legal action can be taken against a police officer asagainst any other individual – for example, in the tort of false imprisonment. But many people feel it is difficult to gather evidence against the police.

In some countries, police officers are usually armed, whereas in others they only carry guns when engaged in certain kinds of work. Governments may also make use of the army to enforce the law, but this is only done on a regular basis when there is political dissatisfaction with the government, either from a large part of the civilian population, or from a well-armed minority (Northern Ireland). Since armies are trained for wartime conditions, their methods of law enforcement are unlikely to be completely impartial, although there are some countries where the army appears to enjoy more public confidence than the police (India).

As with the police, it is important that the public feels the judiciary is independent and unbiased. Americans feel that the best way of ensuring this is to have elected judges. Britons fear this might lead to politicalization of the judiciary and prefer to have judges appointed by the government on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor.

Although courts have the highest legal authority, they rely on the power of the prison authorities to enforce their decisions. They can authorize the detention of an individual in order to gather evidence against him, compel him to obey a court-order or punish him for a crime.

 

Vocabulary

access n доступ; право доступа

allegation n заявление

assault n нападение; словесное оскорбление и угроза физическим насилием

authorize v уполномочивать

break the law v нарушать закон

bribe n взятка

compel v заставить, принуждать

crime n преступление

criminal n преступник; adj преступный; уголовный; criminal law уголовное

право

defence n 1 обстоятельство, освобождающее от ответственности; 2 защита

detention n задержание; арест; заключение под стражу

deter v удержать (от совершения преступления); устрашать

enforce a law v проводить закон в жизнь; enforcement n проведение закона в жизнь

evidence n свидетельские показания; obtain evidence v получить

(свидетельские) показания

false imprisonment n неправомерное лишение свободы

guilty n виновный

have (wide) powers v иметь (широкие) полномочия

ignorance n незнание

impose a fine v наложить штраф

investigate v расследовать; investigate crimes расследовать преступления

involvement n привлечение; вовлечённость

judgement n 1 судебное решение; 2 мнение; суждение; case judgement

постановление

judicial functions n судебные функции

law-abiding citizen n законопослушный гражданин

marijuana [‘mǽri’hwa:nə] n марихуана

notice n объявление; предупреждение

obey the law v подчиняться закону

obtain confession v добиться признания

offence n 1 правонарушение; 2 преступление; civil offence гражданское правонарушение; гражданский деликт; commit an offence совершить правонарушение / преступление

offender n правонарушитель; преступник

on a case-by-case basis дифференцированно; в зависимости от конкретного

случая

overlook v пропускать; просмотреть

pass a sentence v вынести приговор

prohibit v запрещать; prohibition n запрещение

prosecute v преследовать в судебном порядке

record n документ; протокол; written records письменный протокол;

документы

reform v исправить

search and question производить обыск и допрос

statute n законодательный акт; статут

theft n кража

tort n деликт; гражданское правонарушение

trickery n обман; хитрость

unbiased adj беспристрастный

warn v предупреждать; warning n предупреждение

 

Reading tasks

Answer these questions.

1 How do governments enforce the law?

2 In your opinion, what is the most effective means?

3 Why are people often ignorant of the law?

4 Which laws reflect social and moral attitudes to everyday behaviour?

5 What are the basic police functions?

6 In what countries are people law-abiding?

7 What is wrong with police force?

8 What documents give the police powers to delay access to lawyers?

9 Are police officers always armed?

10 When do governments use the army to enforce the law?

11 Do Britons have elected judges?

12 Who appoints judges in the UK?

 


Language focus

The sentences in this exercise contain mistakes. The mistakes are all in the prepositions and there are three types.

  1. MISSING PREPOSITION I spoke … him about this last week. to
  2. WRONG PREPOSITION We’re meeting again in Tuesday on
  3. UNNECESSARY PREPOSITION I’ll telephone to you tomorrow.

 

 


Find the mistakes and correct them.

1 It says in the newspaper that he’s been evading of income tax.

2 He was sentenced five years.

3 He was accused in murder.

4 The prosecution tried to discredit at the defence witness.

5 I would like to report of a theft.

6 During the appeal he claimed that the original judge had been biased in favour to the plaintiff.

7 They were brought for the judge.

8 He was found guilty of all charges and sentenced five years in prison.

 

Vocabulary tasks

A Match the following English words and phrases with their Russian equivalents.

 

  civil court a наказать преступника
  inhabitants b заставляют осознавать
  encourage support c сохранять мир
  legal code d гражданский суд
  make aware of e иметь дело с
  make efforts f доверять полиции
  armed g правовой кодекс
  punish the guilty h поддерживать
  common law i подозревать
  trust the police force j независимая судебная власть
  concern with k вооружённый
  keep the peace l жители
  suspect m приложить усилия
  independent judiciary n общее право

 


B Match the words from columns in order to make logical expressions.

 

I      
  a sentence committed by a court
  a law imposed by (a) citizen(s)
  a person enforced upon (by) a crime
  a fine suspected of the police
  an offence passed by a government
II      
  citizens dealing with crimes  
  police having wide powers  
    obeying the law  
    breaking the law  
    imposing a fine  
    committing a crime  
    enforcing the law  
    catching criminals  

 

C Complete the following text with the words and phrases from the box.

powers enforcement investigations consists responsible for police force order unarmed court prosecution crime (2) public order guardians  

 


 

 

Police is the agency of a community or government that is 1) _____ maintaining 2) _____ and preventing and detecting 3) _____. The basic police mission – preserving 4) _____ by enforcing rules of conduct or laws – was the same in ancient societies as it is in the contemporary sophisticated urban environments.

The conception of the 5) _____ as a protective and law enforcement organization developed from the use of military bodies as 6) _____ of the peace.

Police officers are usually 7) _____ and there are strict limits to police 8) _____ of arrest and detention. The police service is taking part in international cooperation against 9) _____.

The police service in England 10) _____ of 52 independent forces usually working together with the local authorities and each responsible for law 11) _____ in its own territory.

Most 12) _____ are initiated by the police but in Scotland the police make the preliminary 13) _____. As soon as anyone is arrested he or she must be brought before a 14) _____ with a minimum delay.


Over to you

Which of actions can be performed by a POLICE OFFICER? Sort out the odd words. Explain your choice.

 

· to apprehend

· to defend in court

· to convict

· to detain

· to imprison

· to investigate

· to lock up

· to safeguard

· to plead guilty

· to search

· to seize

· to sentence

· to take into custody

 

 



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