Answers

1. No, not any more.

2. Yes, even mercy-killing (euthanasia) is against the law.

3. No. Capital punishment was abolished in the 1960s.

4. No. Murder is a crime against society (this involves criminal law) and not just
a civil matter between individuals.

5. Yes. Joint guilt. In the eyes of the law, both are guilty.

6. No – at least, only in self-defence.

7. Yes.

8. Yes.

9. No, not now. Some years ago she could have sued me for breach of promise.

10. Yes, he/she could claim it was slander (or libel, if you wrote it in a newspaper). He/she probably wouldn’t, though, because of the legal costs.

11. Yes, because of the Sex Discrimination Act and the Race Relations Act.

12. No.

13. Yes. You could sue me for negligence and I would probably have to pay damages.

14. Yes.

Give answers to the same questions according to Belarusian law.

Vocabulary Exercises

Ex. 1. Match items from two columns to form collocations.

A 1) convincing a) deterrent

2) lethal b) culprit

3) life c) criminal

4) major d) misfits

5) convicted e) laws

6) hardened f) jury

7) social g) sentence

8) harsh h) injection

9) hung i) argument

B 1) reach a) clemency

2) commute b) evil

3) face c) forgiveness

4) grant d) a death sentence

5) abolish e) a retrial

6) undergo f) capital punishment

7) preach g) punishment

8) commit h) a verdict

9) breed i) suicide

Ex. 2.

A. Insert the appropriate prepositions: before, in, to, of, with, at.

1. He’s being kept … custody.

2. He was sentenced … five years.

3. She got a sentence … six months.

4. He was accused … murder.

5. She’s been charged … theft.

6. He appeared … court … handcuffs.

7. They were brought … the judge.

8. The jury reached a verdict … guilty.

9. A schoolboy was robbed … gunpoint by a 9-year-old bandit.