11. Crime and Punishment-IELTS Vocabulary Booster (Topic specific vocab for speaking and writing)

crime

A violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties.

He has a history of violent crime stretching back to his

early years

petty crime - not a serious crime

violent crime - crime which includes assault

organized crime - organized group of people commits crimes or engages in criminal enterprises for profit.

white-collar

a description characterizing lower-level professional and management workers and some highly skilled laborers in technical jobs

crime - a term mostly referring to business world crimes. Usually, crimes committed by

businessmen or office workers for financial gain.

victimless crime - a crime with no apparent victim

Bribery is a popular type of white-collar crime. In case of victimless crimes prosecution starts within one week.

Now let's work with some other useful phrases. If you don't know some of them, write them in your

notepad for future reference.

to carry out a crime - to commit a crime;

to investigate a crime - to detect / solve a crime;

to fight crime - to tackle crime;

to prevent crime - to preclude crime;

a crackdown on crime - a serious attempt to punish people for committing crimes;

life of crime - criminal way of living;

a crime wave - a sudden increase in the amount of crime in an area;

circumstances of the crime - conditions under which a crime was committed;

the incidence of crime - the number of times crime happens or develops;

In general, there are dozens of expressions with the word crime. Now let's move forward and discuss

the types of crime!

A popular word in action movies is abduction. It is an act of capturing, carrying away by force.

There has been a series of abductions in the area.

Abduction

Movement away from the midline of the body

arson

the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property

Arson is an act of criminal burning of property

It looked like an accidental fire, not arson

assault

threat or attempt to injure

- a violent physical attack

His body showed signs of assault.

burglary

entering a building unlawfully with intent to commit a felony or to steal valuable property

- illegal entrance into premises with criminal intent

They said there was a burglary, but nothing was

missing

child abuse

deliberate action that is harmful to a child's physical, emotional, or sexual well-being

- physical or emotional mistreatment of a child

In the United States the laws defining what constitutes

child abuse vary from state to state.

drug trafficking

illegal production, transportation, sale, or purchase of drugs

- production, distribution, and sale of illegal drugs

The key source of profit of organized criminal groups is

drug trafficking.

fraud

A dishonest act by an employee that results in personal benefit to the employee at a cost to the employer.

- If you are promised a million dollars on the Internet, it's fraud. Fraud is trickery intended to

gain an advantage.

She was found guilty of committing fraud

Hacking

unauthorized access, modification, or use of an electronic device or some element of a computer system

- special type of Internet crime. When somebody's website or server is hacked, it means that the server or website is broken.

hijacking - stopping and stealing a vehicle

He hijacked a truck, threatening the driver with a gun.

murder

the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

murder - the crime of deliberately killing a person

Her husband was found murdered.

manslaughter

the crime of killing a human being without malice aforethought, or otherwise in circumstances not amounting to murder.

- also killing a person, BUT accidentally - without the intent to do so.

He was back in prison 2 years later, convicted of

manslaughter

Terrorism

The systematic use of violence by a group in order to intimidate a population or coerce a government into granting its demands.

- violence or threat of violence as a way of trying to achieve a political goal

International action to combat terrorism should focus

heavily on prevention.

blackmailing

when someone tries to get money from you or make you do what they want by threatening to tell other people your secrets

blackmailing - using secret information to get something in return (usually money)

The former Romanian Prime Minister was placed on

probation for blackmail.

Felony

a crime, typically one involving violence, regarded as more serious than a misdemeanor, and usually punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by death.

- a serious crime such as murder or burglary

Filing false tax returns is a felony

pickpocketing

the crime of stealing things out of people's pockets or bags, especially in a crowd

pickpocketing - stealing someone's belongings from pockets and purses

Any tourist city is a haven for pickpockets and thieves

shoplifting

a form of larceny in which a person takes items from a store without paying or intending to pay

- stealing things from a shop or store

A boy shoplifted a toy from the store

And the last word combination is traffic offences - crimes committed on the road. When committing

a traffic offence people usually have to pay a fine.

In European countries fines for traffic offences are

extremely high.

traffic offences

the most commonly committed offences in our community eg. driving without seatbelt, running red light.

Another big part of the crime and punishment vocabulary is court vocabulary.

found him guilty of murder.

victim - a person who has been attacked in some way by somebody.

Some victims are selected because they seem

vulnerable.

And here we have some useful expressions with the word victim:

Innocent / unsuspecting victim - not deserving to be harmed;

to portray somebody as a victim - to present somebody as a victim.

a suspect - a person who is believed to be guilty

The man was arrested as a suspect.

an attorney - a lawyer who can sue or defend people.

If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed

to you by the state.

evidence - something that can serve to prove something. In our context evidence is usually presented

in court to prove that someone is guilty or innocent.

Popular expressions with the word evidence are:

hearsay evidence - evidence based not on a witness's personal knowledge but on another's statement

not made under oath;

criminal evidence - evidence related to a criminal case;

in the light of evidence / in the face of evidence - considering the evidence;

not a scrap of evidence - no evidence;

verdict - the decision made by a jury in a trial.

The jury reached a verdict after hours of deliberation.

And here is a list of verdict expressions:

favorable verdict - positive verdict

adverse verdict - negative verdict

to appeal against a verdict - to protest a verdict

final verdict - definitive verdict.

a judge - a public official given the right to decide on questions brought before a court of justice

The judge ordered the company to pay compensation.

The following expressions are also widely used:

a panel of independent judges - judicial division / bench

High Court Judge - a judge in the High Court

jury - a group of people that decides on a court case

Tell the jury in your own words what happened.

expressions:

trial by jury - to hear the case in a court with participation of jury

to serve on a jury - carry out responsibilities of a jury

Penalties

Now let's talk about possible penalties or the types of punishment and words and phrases to describe

them.

death penalty also known as capital punishment is the execution of a person after judgment by a

legal system

Our criminal system is very careful in cases of death

penalty.

suspended sentence - the judge's decision to delay a prison or jail sentence.

A suspended sentence usually remains on the

defendant's criminal record permanently.