Page 167 - English Vocabulary in Use (Pre & Intermediate)

Law and order

The police
They do a number of things. When someone commits a crime (= breaks the law and does
something wrong / illegal / against the law) the police must investigate (= try to find out
what happened / who is responsible). If they find the person responsible for the crime, they
arrest them (= take them to the police station). At the police station, they question them
(= ask them questions to find out what they know) and if they are sure the person
committed the crime, the person is charged with the crime (= the police make an official
statement that they believe the person committed the crime). The person must then go to
court for trial.

The court

‘| barrister
, (AmEng
Pe = attorney

" defendant

In court, the person charged with the crime (now called the defendant or accused) must try
to prove (= provide facts to show something is true) that they did not commit the crime; in
other words prove that they are innocent (# guilty). The jury listens to all the evidence
(= information about the crime, for and against the defendant) and then makes their
decision.

Punishment
If the defendant is convicted of the crime (= the jury decides that the defendant is guilty),
the judge will give the sentence (= the punishment). For example, if a person is convicted of
murder, the sentence will be many years in prison. The person then becomes a prisoner, and
the room they live in is called a cell.
For crimes that are not serious (often called minor offences, e.g. illegal parking), the
punishment is usually a fine (= money you have to pay).

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English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate)