18考研英語：外刊精讀（五）
Plea bargains save time and money but are too easily abused.
辯訴交易節約時間和金錢，但易被濫用。
原文
THE elements that make up a criminal-justice system are familiar from a thousand courtroom dramas. Detectives interview witnesses and examine crime scenes. Forensic scientists coax secrets from bloodstains and cigarette ash. Judges and juries weigh the facts and pronounce on guilt and innocence.
核心詞彙
Plea bargains 辯訴交易
criminal-justice system 刑事司法體系
Forensic scientists 法證專家
juries 陪審團
翻譯
在電視電影中經常可以看見許多組成刑事司法體系的元素。
原文
But in many countries, behind this system lies a quicker, rougher one. It is plea-bargaining, in which prosecutors press lesser charges or ask for a lighter sentence in return for a defendant pleading guilty or incriminating others. Long crucial to the operation of American justice, this shadow system is now going global. One study of 90 countries found that just 19 permitted plea bargains in 1990. Now 66 do. In many countries, including England and Australia, pleas now account for a majority of guilty verdicts. In American federal courts the share is close to 100%.
核心詞彙
verdicts 判決
翻譯
如果被告承認有罪或者控告他人有罪，起訴者就會做出更少的指控或者提出更輕的判刑，這便是辯訴交易。
