Read the following article and be ready to answer the questions.

 

Prison Cell Forgery (подделка) of Cheque Books

 

John Barclay, a prisoner in Maidstone jail, developed what his defence counsel described at Canterbury Crown Court yesterday as "a cottage industry devoted to the bespoke manufacture of cheque books and cheque cards".

Mr Barclay, aged 35, Gordon Lewis, aged 33, of Aylesford, Kent, and Brian Marshall, aged 38, of Chelsea, all admitted conspiracy to defraud (обманные действия).

Mr Marshall also admitted stealing a cheque book, a driving licence and health insurance cards, and Mr Lewis admitted dishonestly handling them.

They were bound over for three years to come up for judgement if called on by the court. Mr Lewis and Mr Marshall were each ordered to pay f100 towards the prosecution costs.

Mr Terry Boston, for the prosecution, said a routine search uncovered photographic copies of cheque cards in Mr Barclay's cell. Police officers later took away a printing outfit which he used to make cheque books. Mr Lewis, who visited Mr Barclay, suggested he could print the books on his equipment.

The police have found that the printing set was posted to Mr Barclay at Maidstone prison, but do not know who sent it or why Mr Barclay was allowed to have it.

(The Time)

1. How many prisoners have taken part in making the forgeries?

2. Who was the main producer of cheque books and cheque cards?

3. What is the punishment the prisoners have got?

 

Read for Enjoyment

 

 

Prisoner: "It is difficult to see how I can be a forger. Why, I can't sign my own name".

Judge: "You are not charged with signing your own name".

 

* * *

A beautiful blonde walked into a Chicago police station and gave the desk sergeant a detailed description of a man who had dragged her by the hair down three flights of stairs, threatened to choke her to death and finally beat her up.

“With this description we’ll have him arrested in no time,” said the desk sergeant.

“But I don’t want him arrested,” the young woman protested. “Just find him for me. He promised to marry me.”

UNIT 4

 

For Study

Vocabulary

· defendant n - подсудимый, обвиняемый
e.g. A defendant is a person against whom a legal action is brought.
syn. accused

· defence n – 1. защита (на суде); 2. обстоятельства, исключающие преступные деяния
defence counsel – защитник

· remedy n - средство судебной защиты

e.g. We have pursued and exhausted all possible legal remedies for this injustice.

· prosecution n - 1. судебное разбирательство; 2. обвинение (как сторона в уголовном процессе)

bring a prosecution - возбуждать уголовное преследование

e.g. Criminal prosecutions are in the name of an individual, usually a police officer, although a private individual may bring a prosecution.

· plaintiff n - истец
calling the plaintiff - вызов истца в суд
to find for the plaintiff - решить в пользу истца
e.g. At last the judgement was given for the plaintiff.

· trial n - 1. судебное разбирательство; 2. судебный процесс
to put smb to/on trial, to bring smb for/to trial - привлекать кого-либо к суду
to bring to trial - передавать дело в суд
e.g. The trial lasted a week.

· damages n - убытки
to pay the damages - возмещать убытки
action for /of/ damages - иск о возмещении убытков
e.g. He claimed f5,000 damages from his employers for the loss of his right arm.

 

Supply the sentences with the missing words, given in brackets below.

(damages, prosecution, defendant, trial, plaintiff)

1. The police have been ordered to pay substantial… to the families of the two dead boys.

2. Any... has the right to claim for a qualified defence in the court.

3.... is the process of preparing and presenting the case against a person accused of a crime.

4. During the... Mr Brian's guilt was fully proved.

5. In a civil law court … is the person who makes a legal complain about another person.

 

Reading Practice

 

Read the text and be ready to speak on the examples of differences between civil and criminal procedures.

 

Civil and Public Law

 

1. One important distinction made in all these countries is between private-or civil-law and public law. Civil law concerns disputes among citizens within a country, and public law concerns disputes between citizens and the state, or between one state and another. The main categories of English civil law are:

Contracts:	binding agreements between people (or companies);
Torts:	wrongs committed by one individual against another individual's person, property or reputation;
Trusts:	arrangements whereby a person administers property for another person's benefit rather than his own Land Law;
Probate:	arrangements for dealing with property after the owner's death;

The main categories of public Law are:

Crimes:	wrongs which, even when committed against an individual are considered to harm the well-being of society in general;
Constitutional Law:	regulation of how the Law itself operates and of the relation between private citizen and government;
International Law:	regulation of relations between governments and also between private citizens of one country and those of another.

In codified systems there are codes that correspond to these categories, for example, France's Code Civil and Code Penal. Justinian's Roman codes covered such areas of law as contracts, property, inheritance, torts, the family, unjust enrichment, the law of persons, and legal remedies, but said little about criminal law.

Consequently, most Continental criminal codes are entirely modern inventions.

2. Most countries make a rather clear distinction between civil and criminal procedures. For example, an English criminal court may force a defendant to pay a fine as punishment for his crime, and he may sometimes have to pay the legal costs of the prosecution. But the victim of the crime pursues his claim for compensation in a civil, not a criminal, action. (In France, however, a victim of a crime may be awarded damages by a criminal court judge.)

3. The standards of proof are higher in a criminal action than in a civil one since the loser risks not only financial penalties but also being sent to prison (or, in some countries, executed). In English law the prosecution must prove the guilt of a criminal "beyond reasonable doubt" (при отсутствии разумных оснований для сомнения); but the plaintiff in a civil action is required to prove his case "on the balance of probabilities". Thus, in a civil case a crime cannot be proved if the person or persons judging it doubt the guilt of the suspect and have a reason (not just a feeling or intuition) for this doubt. But in a civil case, the court will weigh all the evidence and decide what is most probable.

4. Criminal and civil procedure is different. Although some systems, including the English, allow a private citizen to bring a criminal prosecution against another citizen, criminal actions are nearly always started by the state. Civil actions, on the other hand, are usually started by individuals.

Some courts, such as the English Magistrates Courts and the Japanese Family Court, deal with both civil and criminal matters. Others, such as the English Crown Court, deal exclusively with one or the other.

In Anglo-American law, the party bringing a criminal action (that is, in most cases, the state) is called the prosecution, but the party bringing a civil action is the plaintiff. In both kinds of action the other party is known as the defendant. A criminal case against a person called Ms.Sanchez would be described as "The People vs. (=versus, or against) Sanchez" in the United States and "R.(Regina, that is, the Queen) vs. Sanchez" in England. But a civil action between Ms.Sanchez and a Mr. Smith would be "Sanchez vs. Smith" if it was started by Sanchez, and "Smith vs. Sanchez" if it was started by Mr.Smith.

5. Evidence from a criminal trial is not necessarily admissible as evidence in a civil action about the same matter. For example, the victim of a road accident does not directly benefit if the driver who injured him is found guilty of the crime of careless driving. He still has to prove his case in a civil action. In fact he may be able to prove his civil case even when the driver is found not guilty in the criminal trial.

Once the plaintiff has shown that the defendant is liable, the main argument in a civil court is about the amount of money, or damages, which the defendant should pay to the plaintiff.

6. Nevertheless there are many points of contact between criminal and civil law. In most countries if the loser of a civil case refuses to comply with the order made against him - for example to pay money to the winner of the action – the procedures for forcing him to comply may result in a criminal prosecution. Disobeying any court may constitute criminal conduct, and the disobedient loser of a civil action may find he or she not only has to pay the damages originally ordered by the court, but a criminal penalty as well.

Although the guilty defendant in a criminal case will not automatically be found liable in a civil action about the same matter, his chances of avoiding civil liability are not good. This is because the standard of proof in the civil case is lower than it was in the criminal case. The plaintiff will therefore make sure any information about a relevant criminal case is passed to the civil court.

It is also possible in English law to bring a civil action against the police. Sometimes this is done by someone who was mistreated when questioned by the police about a criminal case.

 

Comprehension Check

 

1. Look through the text and say whether the following statements are true or false:

1. Both damages and fines are sums of money.
2. Both damages and fines may benefit the victim of an accident.
3. Damages are part of the civil system of law.