IELTS vocabulary: Crime and punishment

Abduction

The action or an instance of forcibly taking someone away against their

will.

Arson

The crime of deliberately setting fire to property.

Assault

A violent attack.

Burglary

The crime of illegally entering a building and stealing

things.

Child abuse

Physical or emotional or sexual mistreatment of

children.

Drug trafficking

Importing illegal drugs.

False Imprisonment

The limiting of someone's freedom without the authority or right to do so.

Fraud

The crime of cheating somebody in order to get money or goods

illegally.

Hacking

The action of secretly finding a way of looking at and/or changing information on somebody else's computer system without

permission.

Hijacking

The taking control of a public transport vehicle, such as an airliner or train to use the people aboard as hostages.

Premeditated murder

The killing of a person that was planned beforehand.

Manslaughter

Killing another person without intending to do so..

Patricide

The murder of a father.

Euthanasia

The painless killing of someone dying from a painful disease.

Smuggling

The act of illegally importing or exporting goods.

White collar crime

Non-violent crime committed by individuals or corporations to obtain a personal or business advantage.

Pickpocketing

Stealing things from people`s pockets, especially in a crowd.

Shoplifting

The act of stealing goods from a store.

Traffic offence

A violation of traffic regulations, such as breaking the speed limit.

Vandalism

Deliberate and pointless destruction of public or private property.

Juvenile delinquent

A teenager who commits a serious crime or repeatedly breaks the law.

Death penalty/capital punishment

Putting a condemned person to

death.

A suspended sentence

Punishment temporary or permanently not

active.

Forfeiture

The loss or giving up of something as a penalty for wrongdoing.

Fine

A sum of money to be paid to the state by a convicted person as punishment for an offense.

House arrest

A sentence which requires an offender to stay at home except for certain functions the court permits.

To suspend a license

To withhold a person's right to use their driving license for a period of time.

Non-custodial sentence

A sentence which is not done in prison.

Community service

A sentence requiring the offender to perform a certain amount of unpaid labor in the community.

Detention

A form of punishment in which children are made to stay at school for a short time after classes have ended.

Corporal punishment

The physical punishment of people, especially of children, by hitting them.

Judge

A public officer authorized to hear and decide cases in a court of law.

Jury

A group of people sworn to abide by the laws to determine the truth.

Justice

Behaviour or treatment that is fair and morally

correct.

Trial

The court process to determine whether someone committed a criminal act.

Court

The place where the trial is held.

Defendant

A person or institution against whom an action is brought in a court of law.

Prosecutor

A government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state.

Witness

Someone who saw the crime being committed and can provide some information.

Evidence

Facts or physical signs that help to prove something.

Hearsay evidence

Evidence based on what someone has told the witness and not of direct knowledge.

Guilty

Having done something illegal.

Verdict

A decision that is made by a jury in court, stating if somebody is considered guilty of a crime or

not.

A burglar alarm

A warning device that is tripped off by the occurrence of a burglary.

Fingerprint

A print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger; often used for biometric identification in criminal investigations.

To rape

To force (someone) to have sex against their

will.

Rapist

Someone who forces another to have sexual

intercourse.

Assassination

Murder of a public figure by surprise attack.

Blackmail

The crime of making someone do something by threatening to tell people embarrassing secrets about

them.

Bribery

The crime of giving money or presents to someone so that they will help you by doing something dishonest or

illegal.

Detterent

Something that stops people doing something because they are afraid of what will happen if they do.

Dismantling

The act of taking apart a machine or structure so that it is in separate pieces.

Fraudster

Someone who commits the crime of fraud.

Kidnapper

Someone who unlawfully seizes and detains a victim.

Mugging

Assault with intent to rob.

To acquit

To ronounce not guilty of criminal charges.

To break in

To get into a building or car using force, usually to steal

something.

To charge

To make an official accusation of committing a crime towards someone.

To take somebody to court

To take legal action against somebody.

Mitigated

Made less severe or intense.

To interrogate

To ask someone a lot of questions for a long time in order to get information, sometimes using threats or

violence.

Custody

A state of being confined (usually for a short

time).

Mortuary

A building (or room) where dead bodies are kept before burial or cremation.

Speeding ticket

An official notice that you are given to by a police officer when you were driving too fast.

Arsonist

A criminal who illegally sets fire to property.

Offender

Someone who has committed a crime.

To make one's point

To put across a proposition clearly and

convincingly.

To sue

To make a legal claim against someone, usually to get money from them because they have done something bad to you.