debated:
• “To debate” means to discuss something in a formal way, typically in a formal setting such as a legislature. (The word can be used as a noun or a verb; the adjective form is “debatable.”)

found to have acted illegally:
• This is the passive version of: “The court found the police to have acted illegally.” The structure of this sentence is [Subject + Verb + Direct Object + Object Complement]. The passive form is appropriate here because it is not necessary to mention the subject (i.e. the agent). “Find” as it is used here is a complex transitive verb; in other words, it can be used in clauses of the form [Subject + Verb + Direct Object + Object Complement] (see A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, 16.43, page 1195.) The meaning of the complex transitive version is quite different from the meaning of the much more common transitive version (as used for example, in “Harry found his watch.”) (The sentence in the text could be rewritten as: “The court decided that the police had acted illegally.”)

reprimanded:
• To reprimand someone is to criticize them severely for something they have done — often in an official context as a form of punishment. (The words “scold” and “rebuke” have similar meanings.)

award:
• To award someone is, generally speaking, to give them something in recognition of some good action, e.g. to award a soldier with a medal. The word is also often used, as here, when someone is awarded money by a court because of (i.e. in compensation for) some harm they have suffered. “Award” can also be used as a noun.

compensation:
• Compensation is benefit (usually money) a person receives in “consideration” of some injury or other harm (as “repayment” for it or to “make up” for it). “Worker’s compensation,” for example, is money a worker receives if he or she cannot work after being injured on the job.