Vocabulary notes

1.	Offences against the person –	преступления против личности
2.	Offences against the property –	преступления против собственности
3.	Unlawful act –	противозаконное деяние
4.	With malice aforethought –	со злым умыслом
5.	Without malice aforethought –	без злого умысла
6.	Bodily harm –	телесное повреждение
7.	Grievous bodily harm –	тяжкое телесное повреждение
8.	To cause(inflict) bodily harm –	причинять телесное повреждение
9.	Gross negligence –	грубая небрежность
10.	Suicide –	самоубийство
11.	Attempted suicide –	попытка к самоубийству
12.	Infanticide –	детоубийство
13.	To use violence –	применять насилие
14.	To be charged with a crime –	обвиняться в преступлении
15.	To be guilty of a crime –	быть виновным в совершении преступления
16.	To deprive smb. of smth. –	лишать кого-либо чего-либо
17. 18.	Trespasser – Assault –	нарушитель границ владения нападение

Reading

Task I. Read the following text to learn about the classification of offences.

Classification of Offences

Crimes may be classified in several ways as follows:

a) offences against the person and

b) offences against property.

 

I. Offences against the person

Unlawful homicide

Homicide is the killing of a human being by another human being and it is not necessarily a crime. To kill as a means of lawful self-defense is not unlawful homicide and is not a crime. There are 4 types of homicide: murder, manslaughter, suicide and infanticide.

(a) Murder

Murder is unlawful homicide, and it is defined as unlawful killing with malice aforethought[1].

Malice aforethought may be defined as the intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to the other person. It could be murder if the killer intended to murder one person, but killed another instead.

The punishment for murder is imprisonment for life.

(b) Manslaughter

Manslaughter is unlawful homicide without malice aforethought. Manslaughter occurs when a person acts with gross negligence and kills another person.

(c) Suicide

Suicide and attempted suicide are not crimes, but it is a criminal offence to aid, counsel or procure the suicide of another.

(d) Infanticide

Infanticide is committed when a child under the age of 12 months is killed by its mother.
2. Assault is an act, which causes another person to be in immediate fear of an unlawful physical attack. It is generally considered that mere words are not sufficient but that they must be accompanied by some positive action. An action, which arouses fear, although there was no intention to harm, would be an assault.

3. Rape. This offence occurs when a man has unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman without her free consent. It would still be rape if consent was given by a trick, such as a man pretending to be the woman’s husband.

A husband cannot rape his wife unless they are legally separated but a husband may be charged with assault or causing bodily harm if he uses violence to force his wife to have intercourse.

 

II. Offences against property

 

There are many offences against property. The main crimes are as following:

Theft

“A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it”.

The punishment for theft is a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Robbery

“A person is guilty of robbery if he steals and immediately before or at the time of doing so, and in order to do so, he uses force on any person or puts or seeks to put any person in fear of being subjected to force”.

The maximum punishment is imprisonment for life.

Burglary

This offence occurs when a person:

(i) Enters any building or part of a building as a trespasser and with intent to commit an offence of theft, inflicting grievous bodily harm, rape or unlawful damage, or

(ii) Having entered a building as a trespasser, steals or attempts to steal anything in the building or inflicts or attempts to inflict grievous bodily harm upon any person therein.

The maximum punishment is 14 years’ imprisonment [1].

Vocabulary Focus