书城外语法律专业英语教程
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第17章 Criminal Law 刑法(3)

6. ausation (因果关系) : Causation is the“causal relationship between conduct and esult”. That is to say that causation provides a means of connecting conduct, complete ith actus reus, with the resulting harm or result element. Causation is only applicable here a result has been achieved and therefore is immaterial with regard to inchoate ffenses.

7.roximate cause (直接原因,近因) : In the law, a proximate cause is an event ufficiently related to a legally recognizable injury to be held the cause of that injury. here are two types of causation in the law, cause-in-fact and proximate ( or legal) ause. Cause-in-fact is determined by the“but-for”test: but for the action, the result ould not havehappened. For an act to causea harm, both tests must be met; proximate cause is a legal limitation on cause-in-fact.

8. ransferred malice (间接故意) : Transferred malice is a doctrine used in both criminal aw and tort law when the intention to harm one individual inadvertently causes a second erson to be hurt instead. Under the law, the individual causing the harm will be seen as having“intended”the act by means of the“transferred intent”doctrine.

I Reading comprehension.

1.hat does the criminal punishment include?

2. How many objectives of criminal law? What are they?

3. Why should the criminals suffer in some way?

4. Among the five objectives, which aims at transforming an offender into a valuable member of society?

5. Where can a duty arise from?

6. Under which circumstances causation may be broken?

7. What does a guilty mind mean?

8. Why do people assert that the nature of the injury is the key legal element of the crime?

IIFill in the blanks with the words and expressions in the box.

deterrence definitions public authority convictions

each othercontainment and managementrestitutionprosecution

Criminal law is a branch of law which concerns crimes which are committed against the( 1). It is distinct from civil law, which involves crimes which people commit against( 2), notnecessarily against thepublic as a whole. Substantivecriminal law deals with the( 3)of various crimes which arecovered by thecriminal code, while procedural criminal law is concerned with the ( 4)of said crimes. Procedural law may also include sentencing recommendations which aredesigned to beused in the event that a victimis convicted of committing a crime. Under many criminal codes, ( 5)can only be obtained when theprosecution proves beyond a reasonable doubt that theaccused did indeed commit the crime.

In every nation, the ideal is to deter criminals from committing acts which violate the interests of the public or the nation, and ( 6)is a major feature of the criminal code. Given that reducing the crime rateto zero is unlikely, the criminal code also deals with the proper ( 7)of criminals, including rehabilitation of people who commit criminal acts. Measures for some form of punishment are also a key part of criminal law, warning people who consider engaging in criminal activity that their actions have consequences, and for some types of crime, ( 8)to victims and their families may also be built into the law.

III Paragraph translation from English into Chinese.

You are under arrest. Before we ask you any questions, you must understand what your rights are.

You have the right to remain silent. Y ou are not required to say anything to us at any time or to answer any questions. Anything you say can be used against you in court.

You havetherightto talk to a lawyer for advicebeforewequestion you and to have him with you during questioning.

If you cannot afford a lawyer and want one, a lawyer will be provided for you.

If you want to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time. Y ou also have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to a lawyer.

IV Paragraph translation from Chinese into English.

犯罪行为是指被告所实施的、导致国家对其依法提起控诉的行为。犯罪行为是犯罪的客观要件。这个要件既可能是实施了某一法律禁止的行为(例如,图谋伤害或者殴打) ,亦可能是未实施法律要求实施的某一行为(例如,拒绝阻止机动车事故或者拒绝对受害人提供援助)。

V Exploring question.

Googleout some resources about the criminal court process.

Criminal Law in the United States

The English colonists who came to North America in the 1600s brought their legal traditions with them. After the American Revolution (1775 - 1783) , the English common law remained as the basis of law in the United States. Although U.S. law is rooted in the English common law tradition, it has evolved in distinctive ways to meet the needs and requirements of U.S. society. In the area of criminal law, the common law provided the basis for defining criminal behavior; however, written statutes have been adopted that either modify these definitions or provide new ones.Thus,almost all criminal prosecutions today are based on criminal laws defined by statute rather than by the common law.

Common law origins

The common law began developing in England a millenniumor more ago. Until the mid-17th century, the English Parliament did not convene regularly. As a result, judges rather than legislators often created, defined, and meted out punishment for crimes. Many of the crimes thus created—called common law crimes, as distinguished from statutory crimes—still influence the definition of crime in England and the United States. Among the major common law crimes are murder and manslaughter, mayhem, rape, larceny, robbery, burglary, and arson ( all common law felonies) and assault and battery, perjury, forgery, bribery, and conspiracy ( all common law misdemeanors) . Even in the early days, however, gaps sometimes appeared in the network of judgemade criminal law, and the legislature enacted statutes to fill the gaps in the common law definition of crimes.