UNIT 4
Reading 1: CRIMINAL LAW
Criminal law, sometimes (although rarely) called penal law, involves the prosecution by
the state of a person for an act that has been classified as a crime. This contrasts with civil
law, which involves private individuals and organisations seeking to resolve legal disputes.
Prosecutions are initiated by the state through a prosecutor, while in a civil case the victim
brings the suit. Some jurisdictions also allow private criminal prosecutions.
Depending on the offence and the jurisdiction, various punishments are available to the
courts to punish an offender (see Exercise 12). A court may sentence an offender to
execution, corporal punishment or loss of liberty (imprisonment or incarceration);
suspend the sentence; impose a fine; put the offender under government supervision
through parole or probation; or place them on a community service order.
Criminal law commonly proscribes - that is, it prohibits - several categories of offences:
offences against the person (e.g. assault), offences against property (e.g. burglary), public-
order crimes (e.g. prostitution) and business, or corporate, crimes (e.g. insider dealing).
Most crimes (with the exception of strict liability crimes such as statutory rape 1 and
certain traffic offences) are characterised by two elements: a criminal act (actus reus) and
criminal intent (mens rea). To secure a conviction, prosecutors must prove that both actus
reus and mens rea were present when a particular crime was committed.
In criminal cases, the burden of proof is often on the prosecutor to persuade the trier
(whether judge or jury) that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of every
element of the crime charged. If the prosecutor fails to prove this, a verdict of not guilty
is rendered. This standard of proof contrasts with civil cases, where the claimant generally
needs to show a defendant is liable on the balance of probabilities (more than 50%
probable). In the USA, this is referred to as the preponderance of the evidence.
Some jurisdictions distinguish between felonies (more serious offences, such as rape) and
misdemeanours (less serious offences, such as petty theft). It is also worth noting that the
same incident may sometimes lead to both a criminal prosecution and an action in tort.2
1
In many jurisdictions, it is Illegal for anyone to have sexual intercourse with a minor. This is a strict liability crime:
the offender will still be guilty of a crime even if he or she believed the partner was of legal, consenting age.
2
The OJ Simpson case, for instance, is a famous example of this.
UNIT 4
Reading 1: CRIMINAL LAW
A crime is a wrong which 1) ____________ against society. The wrongdoer 2)
____________: he or she 3) ____________ in prison or 4) ____________ a sum of
money. A tort, on the other hand, is a wrong which 5) ____________ against an
individual. The injured party can sue the wrongdoer and receive damages from the
court. Criminal sanctions exist to make society safer and to keep people from
committing certain acts. Tort remedies exist to make the injured party whole again
for the harm which 6) ____________ by the wrongdoer.
A key difference between the two is that a crime requires a criminal intent (mens rea),
whereas a tort can result without intent to cause harm on the wrongdoer's part.
Crimes 7) ____________ in the criminal courts. An action 8) ____________ by a
governmental body against the wrongdoer. A tort, conversely, 9) ____________ in
the civil courts; the injured party brings an action against the wrongdoer.
UNIT 4
Key terms 1: PUNISHMENTS
Number 1-6 a-f
1. When someone is
a. they are put in prison for a crime.
sentenced to execution,
b. they are given a period of time when they
2. When someone is placed on
must behave well and not commit any more
a community service order,
crimes in order to avoid being sent to prison.
3. When someone is c. they have to pay an amount of money as a
sentenced to imprisonment, punishment for breaking a law.
4. When someone is put on d. they are killed as a legal punishment for a
parole, crime.
e. they are released before their prison
5. When someone is put on
sentence is finished, with the agreement that
probation,
they will behave well.
f. the court requires an offender to perform
6. When someone is fined, unpaid work in their spare time and to
contribute to their community.
UNIT 4
Language use 2: Talking about cause and effect
Number 1-5 a-e
1. Rising poverty in US cities has led a. an impact on the whole economy.
b. older people, as they sometimes
2. Anti-social behaviour adversely
lose their life savings.
3. Knife crime mostly c. affects the communities we live in.
4. White-collar crime has d. impacts young men.
5. Fraud has a big impact on e. to a rise in gun crime.
UNIT 4
Reading 2: White-collar crime:
insider dealing and market abuse
FSA fines auditor for market abuse
The Financial Services and Markets
Tribunal has upheld a Financial Services Although Mr Mohammed began honding
Authority (FSA) case against Mr Arif over the responsibility for elements of
Mohammed, a former Pricewaterhouse Della's audil in September 2002, he
Coopers (PwC) audit manager, who was remained on the audit team assigned to
fined £ 10,000 for committing markel abuse. Delta throughout the period leading up to
This is the first time the market abuse the disposal announcement. In particular,
provisions in the Financial Services and Mr Mohammed remained responsible for
Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) have been the planning statf to work on Delta and had
subject of a Tribunal decision. reason to know about the sale's progress
because of its impact on resource
Mr Mohammed bought shares in Delta planning Al the end of November 2002,
plc. a london Stock Exchange listed Mr Mohammed was aware that the sale
electrical and engineering services process was ongoing and was gelling
company, based on his knowledge that the close lo agreement. Based an this
company intended to sell its electrical information, he purchased 15,000 shares
division. Mr Mohammed became aware of in Delta on 29 November 2002 at 80p
this confidential information because Delta s each Delta announced the disposal on 9
electrical division was an audit client of December 2002. and Mr Mohammed sold
PwC, and Mr Mohammed worked on the his shares the following day at 105p each,
company's audit. making a profit of $3,750 The Tribunal
In July 2002, Mr Mohammed first held that the information Mr Mohammed
became awore of the proposed sale of Delia's had about the proposee deal was
electrical division. He was told that this sufficient and precise enough to be
information was confidential and not considered os relevant information
to be discussed with company officials according to the market abuse provisions.
UNIT 4
Key terms 2: Identity theft
Number 1-6 a-f
a. stealing credit/debit card numbers by using a
1. bin raiding special storage device when processing cards
(often in order to make illegal copies)
b. fraudulently gaining access to personal
2. skimming information from financial institutions, telephone
companies and other sources
c. taking wallets, mail and other items containing
3. phishing
personal information without permission
d. pretending to be a financial institution or
4. changing addresses company and sending spam or pop-up messages to
get people to reveal personal information
e. sending someone's billing statements to another
5. stealing
location by completing a change of address form
f. looking through rubbish for bills or other paper
6. pretexting,
containing detailed information
