Criminal Punishment

Criminal punishment of persons who have committed crimes is one of the forms of state fight against crime. Any criminal punishment is always a restriction of the rights of convicted persons. This restriction is a sort of retribution for the crime a person committed. If a person is convicted, the court decides on the most appropriate sentence. The facts of the offence, the circumstances of the offender, his/her previous convictions are taken into account. The more serious an offence is, the stricter a penalty should be.

But in any case, the responsibility of the court is to impose an exact and just punishment relevant to the gravity of a crime. The more just the punishment is, the greater is the possibility of a person’s reformation. The defense lawyer may make a speech in mitigation on behalf of the offender.

There are the following basic penalties: deprivation of liberty - imprisonment for a certain period of time or life imprisonment, exile, fines or public censure. Capital punishment is usually used only as an exceptional measure when an especially grave crime was committed. The list of such crimes is not long and it is strictly determined by law. There are quite a lot of countries where death penalty prohibited.

Notes

to restrict – ограничивать

restriction – ограничение

to convict – осуждать

retribution – кара

to prevent – предотвращать

prevention – предупреждение

preventive measures – превентивные меры

relevant (to) – относящийся к

to deprive – лишать

deprivation – лишение

exile – ссылка

arson – поджог

shoplifting – кража в магазинах

blackmail – шантаж

smuggling – контрабанда

forgery – подлог

fraud – мошенничество

terrorism – терроризм

vandalism – вандализм

murder – предумышленное убийство

2. Read the text again to answer the following questions:

1. What kinds of penalties are mentioned in the text?

2. What is considered as criminal offence?

3. When is the death penalty used?

4. What is considered to be the toughest punishment?

5. What are the basic penalties?

6. Are there some countries where death penalty is prohibited?

3. Translate the following words and word combinations from English into Russian:

murder, restrict, to convict, prevention, retribution, to prevent, preventive measures, shoplifting, relevant, fraud, to deprive, arson, blackmail, smuggling, forgery, death penalty, terrorism, conviction, liberty, serious offence, circumstances, strictly, imprisonment.

4. Find the English equivalents for the following words and phrases:

лишение свободы, уголовное наказание, общественное порицание, особо тяжкие преступления, смертная казнь, перечень преступлений, основные наказания, судимость, ссылка, штраф, ограничение, обстоятельства, наказание, правонарушитель.