Moral Entrepreneurs and the Law - Assignment Example

Moral Entrepreneurs and the Law A moral entrepreneur is a person, group of people or an organization that holds certain moral ideals and seek to advocate for rules in society that enforce those ideals. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics for instance advocated for the laws against the use of Marijuana in the United States. The conducted sensitization programmes on the adverse effects of the drugs and the need for society to ensure there are laws prohibiting its abuse. Offence of strict liability There are two elements required for an occurrence to be considered criminal. This the mens rea and the actus reus. The former is the guilty mind while the latter is the guilty action. In instances of strict liability, the requirement of a guilty mind is not required; all that is needed to show criminal conduct is the forbidden action. Strict liability offences are usually not of a serious nature and the laws governing such offences are regulatory. A good examples are offences of pollution. Denunciation as a principle in sentencing Denunciation in criminal sentencing regime is the act of imposing a severe sentence to an accused person in bids to send a message, that society, in the embodiment of the court does not tolerate the action of the accused person action. It therefore serves to deter individuals from committing similar crimes as well as appeasing the victim as they feel that justice has been served. For instance, a person accused of raping a child, could get a harsher sentence than one accused of raping an adult in order to show that child rape will not be tolerated. Battered Woman Syndrome as a defense It is a defense used in court by person’s who murder their spouse alleging that at the time of the commission of the crime the person was suffering from the battered wife syndrome. It is called the battered woman/wife syndrome because it is a defense mostly used by women. It is a defense for the women who react with force as a defense mechanism stemming from the belief that it is the only way to defend themselves from their assailants. Nevertheless, there is no psychological evidence to support this principle as a defense in criminal law. Criminal law basic principles There are four main principles that govern the adjudication of criminal justice. The first one is the presumption of innocence; that a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law of competent jurisdiction. The other is the is the burden of proof; in criminal law, he who alleges proves, thus the onus of proving criminal liability is vested on the prosecution and that of proving defenses put forward by the defense team, is vested in the defense. The other principle is right to remain silent; one has the right to remain silent during police interrogations. The last principle is double jeopardy which means a person cannot be charged with the same matter twice. Contract law basic principles There are four principles that govern contract law. They are offer, an expression of willingness to contract, acceptance; an expression of an acceptance of willingness to contract; consideration is the price paid in exchange for something in the agreement. Then lastly there is the intention to create legal relations. Basic proofs required to succeed in civil litigation (tort) There are three basic this that a claimant must show in order to succeed in a civil litigation. These are duty of care, that the defendant had duty of care for the claimant or a third party. Second there was breach of the duty of care and thirdly is the causation; that the duty of care led to the death or injury of the claimant or other party. Consensus and Conflict model of law and social order In the consensus theory, law is deemed to protect and enforce moral values that all members of the society mutually subscribe to. Criminal acts are therefore actions that go against the values shared by the society. In the Conflict model, criminal law is perceived to be a structure used to safeguard the interest of the minority elite and rich. This is seen through the acts of punishment in that, the thieves who steal minor things are punished more severely than the rich who steal millions through unethical business practices are given lenient punishment. Legal Pluralism This is the notion of existence of different legal systems in one state. This mainly occurs in colonies that had their own traditional law for settling disputes and due to colonialization had the legal systems of their colonial masters imposed on them. The latter systems govern commercial transactions as it is a western concept, while the traditional govern matters of inheritance and marriage. Further, there also exist different legal systems for the different communities living within the area; for instance, Sheria law for the Muslim community and the National law for the rest of the population. Criminal Justice system and the role of the key players The standard of proof in criminal law is beyond all reasonable doubt. It is the Crowns attorney’s job to prove matters beyond reasonable doubt and it the work of the defense attorney to raise reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case. It is further the work of the judge who is both the trier of facts and law to observe and know that the rights of the accused person are respected all through the trial process. The Crown attorney and the defense attorney may make a plea bargain before the matter is heard or finally determined by the judge depending on the nature of evidence they both have to either acquit or convict the accused person. When it comes to sentencing, the judge is guided by a number of things, such as; the seriousness of the crimes committed, age of the defendant and whether or not he/she has a previous criminal record. Crime control model and due process model The first principle arises from the nature of law of maintaining law and order in society while the latter emerges from the concept of protecting people from injustice. Both model can run concurrently as they complement each other. The main advantage is that, the first seeks to ensure that persons are brought to justice while the second ensures that the rights of individual including the accused persons are protected. The main disadvantage of the due process model is that it puts the individual through the system with the mind that the accused person is already guilty, just to observe due process and the main disadvantage of the crime control model is that it is to arbitrary. Individual Rights and Public Interest Public interest should ideally encompass individual interest. Human rights of the individuals are inalienable and indivisible, and their violations can never be construed to serve public interest. However there are unavoidable circumstances when individual interests are placed under public interest. In such a situation the individual should be properly compensated in order not to violate his or her individual rights. References Introduction to Law in Canada. Second Edition, Richard A Yates, Ruth Whidden Yates, and Penny Bain, Prentice Hall Allyn and Bacon Canada, 2000.  Read More