--- title: Police, courts and prison — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Police, courts and prison», a lesson of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Every country has laws, rules everyone must follow, and people whose job is to keep them: the police catch and question suspects, courts deci --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/) / Police, courts and prison # Police, courts and prison Lesson 30 of the adult life course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/0/) — Every country has laws, rules everyone must follow, and people whose job is to keep them: the police catch and question suspects, courts decide fairly whether someone broke the law, and prison is the punishment for the most serious crimes. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/1/) — The most important idea is fairness: a person is innocent until proven guilty, and both sides get to tell their story with evidence. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/2/) — Picture a week in Birmingham: a speeding ticket arrives with a photo of Dad's car, Mum gets a letter saying she must do jury service, and the neighbours are burgled while they are on holiday. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/3/) — Crime is on the news a lot, but most people live their whole lives without serious crime touching them. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/4/) — Police officers are people you can go to for help if you are lost or scared. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/5/) — A siren and flashing blue lights mean police are rushing to an emergency, and other drivers must pull over to let them through. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/6/) — Police can stop drivers to check things, such as a broken light or speeding; it is usually short and may end with a warning or a fine, and it is not the same as being arrested. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/7/) — 999 is the emergency number in the UK (112 also works, and in the USA and Canada it is 911); it is for real emergencies only, and prank calls block the line. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/8/) — Being arrested means the police think someone may have committed a crime and will question them; it is not yet proof. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/9/) — A burglary is when someone breaks into a home to steal; victims are often upset most by feeling unsafe, and insurance can pay for some of what was taken. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/10/) — A court is where it is decided, under strict rules, whether someone broke the law and what should happen; most trials are open to the public. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/11/) — A judge is an expert in the law who runs a court case fairly and decides the punishment; British judges' wigs and robes are an old tradition. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/12/) — A jury is twelve ordinary adults picked at random who listen to a criminal trial and decide whether the person is guilty or not guilty. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/13/) — A solicitor is a lawyer who gives advice and writes legal papers; a barrister argues cases in court; getting a lawyer does not mean someone did wrong. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/15/) — A speed camera photographs cars going over the limit, and the driver must pay a fine and may get points on their licence. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/16/) — Speed limits exist because faster cars cause worse accidents, especially near schools and homes. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/30-police-courts-and-prison/17/) — "Innocent until proven guilty" means a person is treated as innocent until a court proves, with evidence, that they did the crime. - ← previous: [Screens, diets, sofas and late nights](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/29-screens-diets-sofas-and-late-nights/) - next →: [Votes, parties and the people in charge](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/31-votes-parties-and-the-people-in-charge/) - ↑ back to [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/)