34 Laws and punishments

A Verbs that collocate with law

pass
obey/observe
uphold/enforce
break LAW

act within
introduce
respect

We must all observe the law at all times. [formal]

People who refuse to obey the law should be punished. [less formal]
A new law has been introduced/passed forbidding the use of mobile phones while driving.
The company acted within the law as regards the rights of its employees. [formal]
It is the job of the police to uphold/enforce the law. [make sure that people obey the law]

B Noun and verb collocations

The new law forbids/prohibits smoking in all public places. [the law does not allow]
The rules permit/allow members to bring guests into the club only at weekends.
These rules/regulations apply to all students, not just new ones. [the rules are for]
If we follow the rules, at least 20 people must be present at the meeting. [do what the rules say]
The regulations require/stipulate that all students must register for the course. [formal: the rules say that]
We have to comply with the regulations concerning the testing of equipment. [formal: do what the
rules say]
I hope we can bend the rules and let her take the exam on another day. [informal: break the rules in a
way that is not considered important]

C Punishments
collocation example

carry out an investigation Police are carrying out an investigation into a major theft in a factory in
Woodvale.

appear in court The trial starts today but the witnesses will be appearing in court tomorrow.

go on trial George Arthur Lode, accused of murdering his wife, went on trial today.

reach a verdict The jury are expected to take several days to reach a verdict.

a fair trial It now seems impossible that Harold Graves can receive a fair trial, given the
media publicity surrounding his case.

be severely punished That judge believes that all shoplifters should be severely punished.

pay/face a heavy fine People who park on double yellow lines face a heavy fine.

face the death penalty If he is found guilty of murder, he will have to face the death penalty.

act as a deterrent People often support the death penalty because they say it acts as a deterrent.

suffer the consequences Anyone who commits a crime has to suffer the consequences.

a harsh penalty/sentence Some judges are more likely to give harsh sentences than others.

a hard legal battle After a hard legal battle, she won compensation for the accident.

win a case You will need a very good lawyer if you are going to have any hope of
winning your case.

72 English Collocations in Use Intermediate

 Exercises
34.1 Choose the correct verb from A to fill the gaps in this paragraph. Use each verb once only and
put it in the correct form.

In law-abiding societies ordinary citizens are usually happy to (1) ............................. or

(2) ............................. the law. But there are also rather different societies where most
people feel that it is not such a serious matter to (3) ............................. the law. In such
places, people do not seem to (4) ............................. the law and even the most honest
of citizens does not expect always to (5) ............................. within it. The rulers of such
societies have no difficulty in (6) ............................. or (7) ............................. new laws but
the police have considerable problems when it comes to (8) ............................. or
(9) ............................. those laws.

34.2 Match the beginning of each sentence on the left with its ending on the right.
1 The rules apply with the regulations.
2 The rules prohibit to all students in the college.
3 The rules allow students the rules to allow Mary to submit her coursework a little late.
4 The regulations stipulate to book college guestrooms at weekends.
5 Most students follow the use of mobile phones in class.
6 The authorities bent that coursework must be handed in on time.
7 All students must comply the rules without too many complaints.
34.3 Put these events in a crime story in order.
a) A number of witnesses appear in court.
b) Bill Sikes goes on trial.
c) Bill Sikes is found guilty.
d) Bill Sikes is severely punished.
e) Bill Sikes robs a bank.
f) The jury reaches its verdict.
g) The police carry out an investigation.
34.4 Answer these questions using one of the
collocations from C opposite.
1 What does every lawyer in a trial hope to do?
2 What does every wrongly accused person who
appears in court hope to receive?
3 What do the police do after a major crime is committed?
4 What may happen to people in some countries if they are found guilty of a very serious crime
like murder or terrorism?
5 How might the death penalty help to prevent serious crime?
6 What does the jury have to do at the end of a trial?
7 What kind of punishments does a hard-hearted judge give?
8 What kind of fine might a judge impose if the offence is quite serious?
34.5 Rewrite each sentence using the word in brackets, so that it keeps the same meaning.
1 Everyone must observe these regulations. (COMPLY)
2 All citizens must obey these rules. (APPLY)
3 The jury found the accused guilty. (REACHED)
4 The police are investigating the bank robbery. (INVESTIGATION)
5 Our company would never break the law. (ACTS)
6 The rules prohibit eating and drinking in the classrooms. (ALLOW STUDENTS)

English Collocations in Use Intermediate 73

35 Crime
A Talking about criminals
Note the collocations in these news clips.

The Judge, Mr Newell, said that Hickey was
a hardened criminal1 who had
committed 12 serious offences. He
ordered that Hickey should serve a
sentence of at least 15 years in prison.
3
1
someone who has committed a lot of crimes
The lawyer for the prosecution, Mr Arthur
Larchwood, stated that Henry Banks was
already a convicted criminal2 when he was
appointed chairman of the company but that
nobody knew this fact. He had a conviction
for robbery dating back to 1996.
2
someone declared officially in a court of law
to be guilty of a crime
The Justice Minister said that the men
were not political prisoners but were
common criminals3 who had committed
acts of terrorism.
low class criminal, negative term
The judge said it was vital that anyone
with a criminal record4 should not be
able to get a job where large sums of
money were placed in their care. Charles
Amworth, 26, had served two years in a
prison for young offenders ten years
ago before working for the bank.
4
list kept by the police of someone’s
previous crimes

B Politicians on crime
Politicians often make speeches about crime. Here
are some extracts from recent ones.
“In the fight against crime we will not just target
serious crime, but all crime, including street
crime and vehicle crime, so that the streets will be
safer for everyone.”
“If someone breaks into your house, steals your
car, or robs you in the street, then of course you
feel society has let you down. That’s why we’re
determined to tackle crime.”
“We are doing everything in our power to combat
crime. The crime rate has come down, and that is
because we have put 10,000 more police officers
on the streets and focused on juvenile crime1, because that is where the problem begins.”
1
crime relating to young persons not yet old enough to be considered adults
“This government is doing very little to fight crime. We have all had some experience of the recent
crime wave in our cities, whether it is petty crime2 or more serious offences.”
2
crime not considered serious when compared with some other crimes
“The crime figures are the worst since 1995. We have had a spate3 of burglaries in this part of the
city, vehicle theft, drug abuse and so on, and police have reported a staggering increase in the
number of acts of mindless vandalism. It is time the party in power did something.”
3
large number of events, especially unwanted ones, happening at about the same time

Common mistakes
Don’t forget the difference between steal and rob. A person steals something, e.g. He stole a car /
some money, but robs someone or an institution, e.g. She robbed an elderly person / a bank. Steal is
often used in the passive, e.g. My car was stolen.

74 English Collocations in Use Intermediate

 Exercises
35.1 Find a collocation in A that matches each definition.
1 a schoolchild who commits a crime
2 someone who has been found guilty of a crime in a court of law
3 someone who has committed a lot of crimes
4 to spend time in prison as punishment
5 to do something that is against the law
6 someone who is imprisoned for what they believe
7 someone who has committed a crime (a disapproving term)
8 a document stating that someone has been found guilty in a court of law
35.2 Match the headlines from a local newspaper with the first lines of their stories.
1 4
JUVENILE CRIME RISING POLICE TARGET VEHICLE THEFT

2 5
DRUG ABUSE SCANDAL PENSIONER ROBBED
3 6
PETTY CRIME CONTINUES CRIME FIGURES OUT TODAY

a) 80-year-old Marianne Roberts had her house broken into and some money and jewellery stolen
while she was asleep in front of the TV last night.
b) An increasing number of young people are getting involved in criminal activity according to a
report published yesterday.
c) So many cars have recently been stolen in the city that the police are launching a special
campaign to tackle the problem.
d) A detailed report on crime in the UK is to be published later today.
e) Small-scale robberies remain a significant problem in this area and police are concerned that the
problem may soon become more serious.
f) A number of TV celebrities have been named as having attended a party where illegal drugs were
being openly used.
35.3 Fill in the gaps in this paragraph.

Police are concerned about the growing number of offences that are being (1) .....................................
by young people in our town. They say that increasing numbers of youngsters are
(2) .............................................. into people’s houses or (3) .............................................. their cars. Indeed,
police claim that it is probably young (4) .............................................. who are to blame for the recent
(5) .............................................. of burglaries in our town. Police are proposing a special campaign to
(6) .............................................. the problem and are asking for the public’s support in this
(7) .............................................. against (8) .............................................. crime.

35.4 Answer these questions.

1 Would you feel pleased or worried if there were reports of a crime wave in your area?
2 What sorts of crime might be considered as petty crime?
3 If the police are targeting serious crime, what are they doing?
4 What word could replace tackle in this sentence? The police are doing all they can to tackle petty
crime in the city centre.
5 What does the phrase an act of terrorism mean?
6 Which of these words could complete the phrase a spate of …: robberies, young offenders, drug
abuse?
7 Give an example of mindless vandalism.
English Collocations in Use Intermediate 75
38 Criminal justice
A Expressing views about crime and punishment
Look at these extracts from calls to a radio phone-in programme called Your Call to Jeremy,
which on this occasion is about crime and punishment.
Hello, Jeremy. I want to know
why financial criminals in the
City always seem to escape
punishment while poor people
always seem to receive custodial
sentences1 even for committing
minor offences.
Jeremy, I’d like to point out that
there have been a couple of
serious miscarriages of justice3
recently and people don’t seem
to realise how damaging this is.
No one should face trial on the
basis of unreliable evidence or
trumped-up charges4.
1 4
a sentence to be served in a prison or similar
5
institution
2 6
serve the full amount of time
3
situation where innocent people are found guilty
B Courts and trials
These newspaper extracts contain typical collocations about courts and trials.
A key witness gave evidence today in the
Misthorpe murder trial. The witness claimed
to have seen the accused leaving Ms Bartram’s
house. The trial was adjourned1 until March
7th. The accused, 27-year-old Liam Grout, was
remanded in custody2.
Mr Hanry had denied all knowledge of the
alleged fraudulent business deal. His lawyers
attempted to show that Derek Yardley was an
unreliable witness. Despite suggestions that
the judge might dismiss the case4, he found
in favour of Mr Hanry and awarded damages5
to him.
1 5
was suspended till a later time or date
2
send to prison until the trial begins or continues
3
verdict which all the decision makers agree to
4 6
decide that the case is not worth considering
80 English Collocations in Use Advanced
My view is that if someone is
put on trial and is found guilty
and given a sentence, then they
should have to serve out2 their
sentence. Releasing someone
early for good behaviour is a
complete nonsense.
We’re facing soaring5 crime rates
in this city and it’s about time the
criminals were brought to justice.
And I’m sick of hearing about
extenuating circumstances6 –
that someone had a deprived
childhood, or they’re not fit to
stand trial. Rubbish!
invented and false accusations
rising very fast
circumstances that lessen the blame, also
mitigating circumstances
In a unanimous verdict3 today in Raylton
District Court, Clare Irene Wilson, 37, was
found not guilty of murder. The judge said
the prosecution had failed to prove beyond
reasonable doubt that Ms Wilson was guilty.
Mary Jones was released this morning after her
lawyers successfully contested the verdict6 which
sentenced her to prison for three years. The
judge, Mr James Egdon, overturned the verdict
in the Court of Appeal. Mary Jones herself did
not appear in court but later said that she felt
justice had been served.
ordered the organisation or person who
has been responsible for causing injury or loss
to pay money to the victim as compensation
disagreed with the verdict and tried to change it
 Exercises

38.1 Rewrite the underlined part of each of these extracts from conversations to make
them sound more like extracts from newspaper reports.
1 An increasing number of crimes per head of the population have been recorded in the last
12 months.
2 Why should young criminals get away without being punished for crimes just because of
their age?
3 The lawyers disagreed with the court’s decision.
4 The judge threw out the case because he felt the evidence was not strong enough.
5 John Jones said he didn’t know anything about the robbery.
6 The judge said that the trial would now take place next month.
38.2 Choose the correct collocation.
1 Someone might get out of prison early for soaring / extenuating / good behaviour.
2 If you get a custodial sentence, you go to prison / only serve the sentence if you commit another
crime / have to do some community service.
3 If you are remanded in custody, you are allowed to go home / obliged to pay some money /
kept in prison.
4 If you serve out a sentence, you are released from prison early / kept in prison for the full
amount of time / kept in prison for life.
5 If charges are trumped up, they are accurate / invented / exaggerated.
38.3 Correct the mistakes with prepositions in the collocations.
1 He was put in trial for murder.
2 He was later remanded on custody.
3 The witness appeared on court for the first time today.
4 The murderer was soon brought into justice.
5 The case against Mr Sharp was proved over reasonable doubt.
38.4 Complete each sentence using a word from the opposite page.
1 Unfortunately, there have been a number of of justice recently.
2 The lawyer claimed that there were some circumstances.
3 This is the sixth time the accused has in court.
4 The jury was quick to reach a verdict, finding the accused guilty.
5 The accused all knowledge of the crime, but no one believed her.
6 Charles Weiss was damages for the injury he had suffered.
7 The newspaper said had been served by the conviction of Joe Lee.
8 The trial has been until next week.
9 He has been in court on several previous occasions but only for committing
offences.
38.5 For each word, find two collocating words in the box. Then write sentences using each
of the collocations.

contest  face  evidence  evidence  guilty  
not guilty  overturn  sentence  stand  witness

1 find
2 give
3 trial
4 unreliable
5 verdict

English Collocations in Use Advanced 81

43 The letter of the law
A Legal verbs
to bend the law/rules: to break the law/rules in a way that is considered not to be very harmful
to contravene a law: to break a law (noun = contravention)
to infringe a law/rule: to break a law/rule (noun = infringement)
to impeach a president/governor: to make a formal statement saying that a person in public office
has committed a serious offence (noun = impeachment)
to lodge an appeal: to make an official request that a previous judgement should be changed
to uphold/overturn a verdict: to say that a previous decision in court was correct/incorrect
to pervert the course of justice: to make it difficult for justice to be
done (noun = perversion)
to quash a conviction: to change a previous official decision that
someone was guilty
to set a precedent: to establish a decision which must usually, in
English law, be taken into account in future decisions
to award/grant custody to: to give one parent or adult the main
responsibility for a child, especially after separation or divorce
to annul a(n) agreement/marriage/law: to declare that it no longer
exists and never existed (noun = annulment)
to sue someone: to take legal action against someone
to allege: /əˈledʒ/ to say that someone has done something illegal
without giving proof (noun = allegation)
to amend a law: to make changes to a law (noun = amendment)

B Crimes
crime meaning verb criminal
discrimination unfair treatment on grounds of sex, race or discriminate
nationality (against)
embezzlement stealing money that belongs to an embezzle embezzler
organisation that you work for
harassment putting undue pressure on someone, e.g. harass
for sexual reasons or to get a debt repaid
insider trading/ illegal buying and selling of shares by do/practise insider trader/
dealing someone who has specialist knowledge of insider trading/ dealer
a company dealing
money laundering moving money obtained illegally so that its launder money money
origin cannot be traced launderer
perjury lying when under oath commit perjury perjurer
stalking following someone or giving them stalk stalker
unwanted or obsessive attention
trespass/ go onto someone else’s land without trespass trespasser
trespassing permission

C Words and expressions with law

A law-abiding person is someone who always obeys the law.
A law-breaker is someone who – often and deliberately – does not obey the law.
If you take the law into your own hands, you do something illegal to punish someone because you
feel the legal system will not punish that person.
If you lay down the law, you say with great force what you think should happen.
If someone is a law unto himself/herself, he or she behaves in a way which is independent and not
the way in which most other people behave.

92 English Vocabulary in Use Advanced

 Exercises
43.1 Choose the correct verbs from A to fill the gaps. Put the verb in the correct form.
1 The governor on the province was for wrongful use of state money.
2 The prisoner decided to an appeal against the court’s decision.
3 The appeal court the verdict of the lower court and the prisoner was released.
4 In English law, a previous legal decision usually a precedent for future decisions.
5 Judges often custody to the mother rather than the father.
6 I’m not asking you to break the rules, just to them a little.
7 You my legal rights by not allowing me to vote.
8 Witnesses charged with perjury are accused of the course of justice.
9 The marriage was because the man had never properly divorced his first wife.
10 The Supreme Court the murder conviction and the man was freed.
43.2 Which of the crimes in B might each of these people be charged with?
1 A camper who spent a night on a farmer’s land without asking permission.
2 A businessman who diverted funds from the account of the company he worked for into his own
personal account.
3 An employer who gave a job to a man although he was less suitable for the post than a
woman applicant.
4 A witness who gave false evidence in court.
5 A person who kept making inappropriate comments about a colleague’s personal appearance.
6 A board member who took advantage of what they knew about the business’s plans to make a
profit on the stock market.
7 A person who follows someone or calls them every day and buys them gifts even though they are
not in a relationship.
43.3 Choose a noun from each of these verbs to complete each sentence.

impeach   ​
allege   ​
contravene   ​
annul   ​
harass   ​
infringe   ​
pervert   ​
amend

1 Parliament is currently discussing a number of to the current laws on citizenship.

2 Amy took her employer to court for in the workplace.
3 Some people consider of others’ rights as being as serious a crime as theft.
4 By taking on work for a competitor Nathan was in of the terms of his contract.
5 The trial was criticised by many as a of justice.
6 To suggest that Leah took the money is a very serious .
7 The circumstances are such that I think the judge may agree to a(n) of their
marriage.
8 The of a president has only taken place a couple of times in US history.
43.4 Choose an expression from C to complete each sentence.
1 You should let the police deal with the situation – it’s far too risky to .
2 Sam started getting into trouble when he got in with a gang of habitual .
3 You shouldn’t start on your first day in a new job.
4 Masha will never be able to get Vadim to conform – he’s .
5 Isabelle is far too to agree to bring extra cigarettes into the country.

43.5 Over to you

Look at the website www.britishlaw.org.uk to find out more about the law in the UK. Note
down at least ten more useful legal words and expressions.

English Vocabulary in Use Advanced 93

 www.espressoenglish.net

Lesson 22 – Crime
When a person breaks the law (does something illegal), we say they have committed a crime.
Especially horrible crimes – like a savage rape or a brutal murder – can be described as barbaric,
horrible, or vicious crimes.

If someone tries to commit a crime but does not succeed, we use the word attempted – for example, an
attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, or attempted break-in. If someone accuses another person
of a crime, but it is not yet proven, then we use the word alleged – for example, an alleged assault,
alleged harassment, or alleged rape.

After the victim reports the crime to the police, the police will begin to investigate the crime. They’ll
visit the crime scene and gather forensic evidence (collect details like bullets, fingerprints, or blood
samples that can show what happened). If witnesses come forward, the police will interview them to
hear a first-hand account (a story told by a person who saw the event) of what happened. They also
consider possible motives for the crime.

Police can arrest suspects who they believe have committed a crime – but the suspect can prove their
innocence by providing a solid alibi – that means giving a confirmed explanation of where they were at
the time of the crime. If it is never discovered who committed the crime, then the case remains an
unsolved crime. The statistics about number of crimes in a particular area is called the crime rate. And
when there is a big increase in the crime rate, we can call this a crime wave.

There are also a number of collocations we can use to describe criminals. A first-time offender is
someone who has broken the law for the first time, whereas someone who has broken the law in the
past has a criminal record. A criminal who is famous – like a serial killer (a person who has killed
multiple people over time) or a person who is heavily involved in organized crime – can be called a
notorious criminal.

Collocations for specific crimes / criminals:

a cold-blooded killer/murderer – a person who doesn’t have feeling or emotion

a crazed/psychopathic killer – a killer who is insane or mentally unbalanced
domestic violence – when there is violence inside a home, for example, a husband beating his
wife
drug trafficking – the purchase, sale, and transport of illegal drugs
identity theft – when a criminal steals an innocent person’s identifying information and uses it in
an illegal way
sexual harassment – when one person makes undesired sexual advances towards another
person
petty crime – a minor crime
armed robbery – when criminals steal something, while using weapons

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 www.espressoenglish.net

Lesson 23 – Law/Justice
The government is responsible for passing laws (approving new laws to be put into practice), and the
courts and legal system are in charge of upholding and enforcing the law (applying the law to the
population).

When a person is charged with a crime (formally accused of the crime), he or she must appear in court
to stand trial (be judged guilty or innocent). Both the prosecution and the defense will present their
cases before the judge and jury. After consideration, the judge or jury will reach a verdict (arrive at a
decision).

If there is irrefutable, overwhelming, or concrete evidence, this means that it is very obvious that the
person committed the crime, and it’s possible that the jury will be unanimous (meaning they all agree)
in their decision. However, if the evidence is circumstantial or inconclusive (the evidence does not 100%
prove the conclusion), then the decision will be more difficult – it’s possible to have a hung jury, which
cannot agree on the verdict.

Less serious crimes will receive a light sentence (a small punishment) – for example, the offender may
have to pay a fine or do community service. For more serious crimes, the person will probably go to
prison – and especially heinous crimes can result in a harsh sentence such as life in prison (or life
imprisonment) or, in some places, the death penalty.

After the decision is made, the lawyers can choose to appeal the verdict (try to change the decision),
and the case may turn into a prolonged legal battle as the courts decide whether to uphold or overturn
the original verdict – “uphold” meaning to continue with the original decision, and “overturn” meaning
to change the decision.

As a convicted criminal is serving time (spending time in prison), he or she should remember the
possibility of being released from prison early for good behavior, as long as they are not deemed a
threat to society (possibly dangerous to other people).

A criminal who is released early is said to be “on parole,” meaning that he or she must comply with
certain conditions after getting out of jail – such as getting a job and refraining from drug/alcohol use.

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