18考研英语：外刊精读（五）

考研网

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        Plea bargains save time and money but are too easily abused.
        辩诉交易节约时间和金钱，但易被滥用。
         
        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.
        核心词汇
        Plea bargains 辩诉交易
        criminal-justice system 刑事司法体系
        Forensic scientists 法证专家
        juries 陪审团
         
        翻译
        在电视电影中经常可以看见许多组成刑事司法体系的元素。
         
        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%.
        核心词汇
        verdicts 判决
        翻译
        如果被告承认有罪或者控告他人有罪，起诉者就会做出更少的指控或者提出更轻的判刑，这便是辩诉交易。