Legal English Volume 2

By Marcin Skurzak

Improve your legal vocabulary and comprehension of texts written with the use of jargon of legal practitioners. Designed by a lawyer and legal English teacher, this workbook helps you to make sense of more than 430 legal expressions and business phrasal verbs. It sets the terminology in a daily-life context and provides efficient explanations as well as sentence use. The workbook covers elements from 18 areas of law, including bankruptcy, legal aid, bribery, trademark and transgender law. The focus is on the operation of law in the UK and US jurisdictions. The book has over 180 exercises, and each chapter has its own glossary section and answer key. It will suit both advanced self-learners and teachers of C1-and-above language courses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marcin Skurzak
• Release date: Sep 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9788396401014

Marcin Skurzak

I am a lecturer of English, certified by Cambridge Assessment. I hold Cambridge English Level 5 Certificate In Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages. I graduated in law from King’s College London and have been teaching English as a foreign language to corporate clients as well as private individuals since 2013.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

POLICE POWERS

One of the most divisive police powers is the authority to stop and search those suspected of committing a crime.

BEFORE YOU MOVE ON

1. Are too many people sentenced to prison?

2. What are the alternatives to imprisonment?

3. Do the police have too many or too few powers?

4. How can due judicial process and crime control be balanced?

5. To what extent is legal training desirable for police forces?

Task 1: Read the following article about police powers.

The police is the single largest agency to which most crime is reported. But there are other institutions as well that enforce the law. These include local and central government authorities, tax offices, and health and safety watchdogs. Between 2021 and 2022, the UK police recorded approximately 6.3 million offences, a 13% surge from the previous reporting year. The US seems to have a similar trend, where in 2021, for example, murder rates rose sharply by nearly 30%, with metropolitan areas such as New York reporting a 15% escalation in gun violence. This recent rise in crime poses extraordinary complex questions for authorities and human rights NGOs alike on how to strike the most auspicious balance between protecting fundamental freedoms, on one hand, and punishing those responsible for wrongdoing, on the other.

For law enforcement bodies to be able to carry out their functions, they need to be granted extraordinary powers to act in certain ways. The UK police’s powers are conferred and governed by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), among other laws, and they include the power to stop and search, to arrest, to detain, to question, and to enter and search premises. Although the law lays down detailed rules required to ensure that the police exercise their powers within stern limits and that their use is subject to constitutional review, there is still much unfettered discretion given to individual police constables when they exercise their powers.

One of the most contentious issues here is the police’s power to stop and search people who are suspected of carrying certain items. This power is intended to allow police officers to allay such suspicions without making unnecessary arrests. Section 1 of PACE allows a constable to exercise his power in any place to which the public has access as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission, other than a dwelling, and within such time as might be reasonably required to permit the procedure to be carried out.

Moreover, a constable must have reasonable grounds to suspect that, by exercising his power, he might find certain goods, including offensive weapons or articles coming from theft or used in burglary, or even prohibited substances such as drugs. When exercising these powers, police officers must always give their name, state the reasons why the search is taking place and offer a record of the procedure at the time it happens.

However, some commentators argue that Section 1 of PACE does not safeguard the rights of those who are subject to stop and search procedures because it gives far too much discretion to individual police officers to determine whether the conditions for carrying out a stop and search have been met. It seems that the only condition that should be satisfied here is the test of reasonableness. Yet, PACE fails short of specifying what a reasonable suspicion constitutes. The UK Home Office, in one of its revised codes of practice for the police, explained that officers must take two steps to satisfy the reasonableness test. First, an officer must have formed a genuine suspicion in his mind that he will find the object for which the search power is being exercised. And second, there must be an objective basis for that suspicion to have been formed on certain facts so that a reasonable person would have reached the same conclusion based on the same intelligence.

In 2022, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, a body responsible for overseeing the police complaints system in England and Wales, highlighted in its report that there are still certain discrepancies in legal interpretations of what objective factors are. Is a suspect’s nervous behaviour or the act of discarding something an objective factor that is capable of causing the mind of a constable to form a genuine suspicion? One of the recommendations given in the report was that objective grounds for suspicion should be based on a range of factors taken together.

This approach might find more ground particularly in cases in which a constable forms a suspicion that an individual is carrying prohibited substances. Should the smell of cannabis be enough to form a genuine suspicion that enables the constable to carry out a search? It seems that there is nothing that can prevent a constable from forming such a belief. However, using the smell of cannabis as the sole reason might prove ineffective, and it might contribute to disproportionate rates of stop and search. This can in turn reinforce negative perceptions of the police within the society and undermine the legitimacy of their powers.

Task 2: Decide if the following sentences are true or false.

1. In 2021, there were 13% more offences recorded in the UK than in the US.

2. The goal of stop and search is to facilitate making arrests by the police.

3. Police officers are not authorised to enter private premises under Section 1 of PACE.

4. According to Section 1 of PACE, a reasonable suspicion must be formed by a constable based on a range of factors.

5. The test of reasonableness is a test of a reasonable police officer.

6. Getting rid of something in a nervous way in public can be seen as a factor forming a genuine suspicion of a police officer.

7. Police officers should be allowed to use the smell of cannabis as a reason to stop and search.

See answers

Task 3: Find the right preposition for each gap.

1. We served a writ … the police commissioner last week claiming damages … conducting stop and search … reasonable grounds.

2. … the new proposals, the police will no longer be able to carry … searches … no reason.

3. The suspect finally turned himself … to the police the day after he had been patted … and released … no charges.

4. … a police officer decides to release an arrestee, he must state the reason … a form provided … law … the Penal Code provisions.

5. She was accused … lying … oath when it turned … that she was not present … the scene of crime when it happened.

6. The two suspects were placed … arrest last night but have not been brought … trial yet.

7. The victims … unlawful stop and search have decided to file a complaint … the Ombudsman.

8. The police shall place a suspect … custody for … short a time … possible before the detention becomes illegal.

9. The lawyer could not confirm … the suspect had been served … a writ to appear … a judge for an initial hearing … his case.

10. The family of the arrestee made a desperate plea … the public to come … with information … the events.

Task 4: Match the following words (1-10) with definitions (a-l). There are two extra definitions that are not needed.

1. A surge (n.)

2. Auspicious (adj.)

3. Stern (adj.)

4. Unfettered (adj.)

5. To allay (v.)

6. A dwelling (n.)

7. To discard (v.)

8. Intelligence (n.)

9. A discrepancy (n.)

10. By virtue of (exp.)

a. To throw sth away because it is no longer needed

b. A collection of secret information of military or police value

c. To make a fear, concern or suspicion less strong or disappear

d. A sudden and large increase, typically a temporary one

e. As a result of sth, because of sth

f. Suggesting a positive and successful future

g. Of sth unrestrained and uninhibited

h. A particular moral excellence

i. Of sth that is rigid and tough, e.g. rules or law

j. Of sth expressing or indicating a suspicion

k. An instance of sth being at variance with sth else

l. A place where sb normally resides

Task 5: Find two mistakes in each of the following sentences.

1. The police are on an obligation to attend to a crime scene immediately and preserve evidence so that it does not become contaminated.

2. The police have broad powers from PACE except of in situations where they need to enter private premises without a search warrant.

3. Police officers can use force only for the last resort, and it must be exercised proportionately with the circumstances.

4. The police are entitled to breach traffic rules despite they are exempted by the operation of general traffic provisions.

Task 6: Choose the right word (a, b, c or d) to fill in each gap (1-7).

You are hereby commanded that within 30 days after the service of this writ of summons 1. … you, inclusive of the day of such service, you must cause an 2. … to be entered for you in an action at the suit of the plaintiff here and take 3. … that in default of your so doing, the plaintiff may proceed therein to judgement and execution in your 4. ... Please note that the defendant may enter appearance personally or by a legal practitioner either by handing 5. … the appropriate form, 6. … completed, at the Registry of the High Court in which the action is 7. …, or by sending it to the Registry by registered mail.

1. a) on, b) at, c) to, d) with

2. a) item, b) appearance, c) entry, d) attendance

3. a) note, b) attention, c) account, d) notice

4. a) default, b) presence, c) absence, d) behalf

5. a) in, b) at, c) on, d) with

6. a) well, b) appropriately, c) suitably, d) duly

7. a) delivered, b) decided, c) brought, d) demanded

See answers

GLOSSARY

PUNISH

to punish – to impose a penalty for an offence or violation of sth

punishment (n.) – the act of punishing sb

punishable (adj.) – of sth that sb can be punished for

Examples

... was punished with an imprisonment ...

... severe punishment works as a deterrent ...

... is punishable by death ...

PROHIBIT

to prohibit – to officially forbid sth

a prohibition (n.) – the act of officially not allowing sth

prohibitive (adj.) – preventing sth from being done or too expensive to bear

Examples

... the law prohibits smoking in restaurants ...

... a complete prohibition of hunting ...

... passed a new prohibitive legislation on gun violence ...

DWELL

to dwell – to live in a particular place

a dwelling (n.) – a place where one lives

a dweller (n.) – a person who lives in a particular place

to dwell on (exp.) – to think or talk about sth unpleasant for a long time

Examples

... they dwelled in the countryside for a decade ...

... a shortfall of dwellings across the country ...

... all city dwellers must pay higher property taxes ...

... he dwelt on his traumatic past...

CHAPTER 1: ANSWER KEY

Task 2:

1. False (between 2021 and 2022, there was a 13% surge of offences in the UK compared to the previous reporting period).

2. False (the goal of stop and search is to allay suspicions without making any unnecessary arrests).

3. True.

4. False (Section 1 of PACE does not specify how a reasonable suspicion must be formed and it is only recommended that it should be based on several factors).

5. False (it is a test