路过之前

版权声明：转载时请以超链接形式标明文章原始出处和作者信息及本声明
http://poop.blogbus.com/logs/1182903.html

Criminal Law

What is it, and how does it work?
The law contains a number of different strands - and certain subtle differences exist between English and Welsh Law and those that apply to Scotland and Northern Ireland - this section looks specifically at English Criminal Law.

What is a criminal offence?
A criminal offence is in its broadest terms behaviour that breaks the rules governing society. Crimes range from the apparently trivial（1） to serious offences like rape, murder or terrorism.

How is the law created?
English law has been developed over centuries and consists of 'Common Law,' 'Statutory Law' and most recently 'European Union' Law.

Common Law
This is also known as 'case law,' and is made by judges in the course of hearing individual cases. This is known as the system of 'precedent.' Precedent effectively means that a decision that has been reached during one particular case will then apply to all similar cases. In theory, it gives the law some degree of flexibility and allows it to respond to changes in public standards or society in general.

Statutory Law
This consists of laws that have been made by an Act of Parliament（2）. Governments may introduce a 'Bill' to update existing laws or develop new ones to respond to changes in society. A Bill is debated in Parliament and once passed is drafted into law.

Changes to law

• A new law that was implemented to respond to changes in society is the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Key parts of the Act are a direct reaction（3） to changes in technology, and include a provision that allows a police surgeon or doctor acting on behalf of the police to take 'intimate samples' (hair, saliva, blood etc) for use in a national DNA database, from anyone convicted of a 'recordable offence.'
  
  
• Another example of a government response to 'new' crime is the decision to increase the penalty for mobile phone theft. Offenders may now face a sentence of up to five years in prison, an increase designed to deter the recent rises in this type of crime.

European Law
This has had an increasing effect on English law since the introduction of the European Communities Act 1972. In effect, any established UK law that contradicts European Law will be overruled（4） by its European equivalent through the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. For more info on this, see our section on European Law.

words:

(1)trivial:琐细的、微不足道的、价值小的  not serious, important, or valuable
trivial problem/matter/complaint etc We were punished for the most trivial offences.a trivial sumHer feelings for Simon seemed trivial by comparison

（2）Parliament：国会、议会  1
[countable][also + plural verb British English]the group of people who are elected to make a country's laws and discuss important national affairs
ￚsee also government, MPThey demanded a free parliament and press.
2
Parliament[singular also + plural verb British English]the main law-making institution in the UK, which consists of the House of Commons and the House of Lords
The bill was passed by Parliament in April. enter/get into Parliament (=be elected as a member of Parliament)
in Parliament
He failed to win a seat in Parliament.
before Parliament
The new laws will be placed before Parliament.
ￚsee also hung parliament
3
[countable] the period during which the British Parliament meets
We expect to get these laws passed during the present parliament.

（3）direct reaction：直接反应

（4）overrule：驳回、否决  to change an order or decision that you think is wrong, using your official power
The House of Lords overruled the decision of the Court of Appeal. They have the power to overrule the local council.