The Criminal Justice System - Coursework Example

The Criminal Justice System Introduction Criminal justice system is the system of law enforcement, the bar, the judiciary, corrections, and probationthat is directly involved in the apprehension, prosecution; defense, sentencing, incarceration, and supervision of those suspected of or charged with criminal offenses. (Criminal justice, 2009) A well defined criminal justice system is the hallmark of any civilized country. Law and order maintenance is essential for the economic growth of a country. For example, in a country like Pakistan, law and order maintenance is in jeopardy because of the influence of terrorists and Muslim fundamentalists on government and other administrative sectors and hence the economic growth cannot be attained. On the other hand the neighboring country, India because of the healthy criminal justice system, develops rapidly to become a super power in near future itself. Law and order can be maintained only if the criminal justice system functions properly. This paper is intended to explain the functioning of criminal justice system, its advantages and disadvantages and access to justice, briefly. Analysis of criminal justice system Perhaps the most important way that the democratic political system shapes criminal justice is through the law making process (Hoffman, 2000, p.8) As explained above India is one of the strongest democracies in the world where different religions live in harmony and hence they are growing gradually towards self sufficiency. Judiciary, Parliament and Executive were combined well in India because of the strength of democracy in India. On the other hand though Pakistan is claiming as a democratic nation, because of the conflicts between Judiciary, Parliament and the Executive, they were unable to function as a true model of democratic country. The disposal of Supreme Court judge Iftikar Chawdhary is the best example for the weakness of Pakistan’s democracy and criminal justice system. The Criminal justice system is essentially a political entity whose basic framework is lodged within the legislative, judicial and executive branches of the government. The legislature defines the law, the courts or judiciary interpret the law and determine whether it meets constitutional requirements, the executive branch plans programs, appoints personnel, and exercises the administrative responsibilities for criminal justice agencies. (Siegel & Senna, 2009, p.7) The success of a Criminal Justice System (CJS) depends on the combined functioning of three segments; Judiciary, Parliament and Executive. In Pakistan CJS often fails because of the dominance of military over administration. In England, special courts were allotted to hear the cases of youth (10 – 17 years of age) violence. “The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is 10. Children between 10 and 17 years of age are brought before a youth court when charged with a criminal offense. The sanctions available to youth courts are more restricted than those for adult courts, the major differences being that fines can be imposed which parents must pay and supervision or attendance center orders may be imposed.” (Pease, n.d) Children below the age of 10 will not be prosecuted in England since because of immaturity of children below 10 years of age. Moreover, even up to 17 years of age, the parents have the responsibility upon their children and hence any criminal activity engaged in by children of these ages will create problems for the parents also. In a CJS, if the police arrest a person under any circumstances, must be produced before the court or judge within 24 hours. After hearing or examining the evidence filed against the culprit by the police, the court will decide whether the accused should be remanded or released. “All suspects prosecuted for serious crimes have a right to be represented by an attorney. If the court determines the suspect is indigent and cannot afford such representation, the court will assign counsel at the publics expense. (The Justice System, 2004). The trial of Pakistani terrorist, ‘Kazab’ who caught alive from the Mumbai terrorist attack, is the best example of strength of CJS in India. Pakistan was not ready to accept Kazab as their citizen and hence they refused to send a advocate for the sake of kazab even though he has requested for a Pakistani counsel many times. India on the other hand has appointed a counsel for appearing for Kazab even though he has committed terrible crime against the country India. The judge will take decision, whether the accused has committed a crime or not after hearing the claims from both the advocates; the public prosecutor and the advocate of the accused. Advantages and disadvantages of criminal justice system Even if thousands of criminals escaped from punishment, not even a single innocent should be punished. The CJS works on the above principle and hence in most cases the innocent people may escape even if they caught on suspicious grounds. On the other hand even big criminals can escape from the verdict if they were able to seek the help of brilliant advocates. CJS has thus merits and demerits. The underlying problems are ones that the criminal justice system can do little about. The unruliness of young people, widespread drug addiction, the existence of much poverty in a wealthy society, the pursuit of dollar by any available means are phenomena the police, the courts, and the correctional apparatus, which must deal with crimes and criminals one by one cannot confront directly (Inciardi, 2009, p.4) Criminal justice system work on the principle of evidences. The court will consider only evidences whether it is circumstantial or from witnesses to arrive at conclusions. Moreover the CJS will consider the nature of the crime and also the circumstances in which the crime has taken place. If a person kills another for self defense he can escape from punishment. There are loop holes in CJS like the one mentioned above. Even if a person kills another purposefully, with the help of a clever advocate he can sometimes convince the court that he did it for self defense and can escape from punishment. “The police measure their success primarily by arrest and clearance rates (even if no conviction results), and secondarily by reported crime rates (even if many crimes are unreported); prosecutors "keep score" according to their conviction rates (even if large numbers of cases are dismissed or charged down); judges saddled with heavy caseloads sometimes keep score in terms of how quickly they can dispose of cases (by any means); elected prosecutors and judges are tempted to emphasize how "tough on crime" they are (whether or not "tough" means "effective").” (Criminal Justice System, 2009) The number of crimes charged by the police or brought to the court may be far less than what actually taking place in a country. Even among the charged crimes, only a few will be punished and the rest will be escaped. It is clear from the above facts that the CJS has certainly many loop holes and disadvantages compared to advantages. Access to justice “Access to justice would refer to the desire for a form of justice which may or may not be possible through the existing legal system, and therefore may involve a substantial reform of the actual system rather than merely the mechanisms for utilizing it.” (Access to justice background paper, 2003) Access to the justice is a CJS intended for low and moderate income people. “Access to justice is a vital part of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) mandate to reduce poverty and strengthen democratic governance. Empowering the poor and disadvantaged to seek remedies for injustice, strengthening linkages between formal and informal structures, and countering biases inherent in both systems can provide access to justice for those who would otherwise be excluded” (Access to Justice, 2004, p.3) Justice must be provided to people irrespective of their gender, race, culture, community, religion, age, class, creed or economic backgrounds. No innocent people must be punished because of their inability to convince the court through proper channels. Access to justice is a system intended for the poor economically backward people. “Access to justice is, therefore, much more than improving an individual’s access to courts, or guaranteeing legal representation. It must be defined in terms of ensuring that legal and judicial outcomes are just and equitable.” (Access to Justice, 2004, p.6) Conclusions Criminal Justice System (CJS) is the backbone of any civilized country. The economic growth of a country is determined by the strength of CJS in that country. No country can develop with a crazy system of criminal justice. CJS has lot of merits and demerits. The main merit is that it tries to avoid punishment for innocent people as far as possible. On the other hand many actual criminals escaping from the loop holes of CJS. Moreover CJS is weak in handling some problems like drug/liquor addiction, underage crimes or domestic violence. Access to justice is a segment of CJS ailed at economically or socially backward people with the intention that every human being should be ensured justice irrespective of religion, race or economic backgrounds. References 1. Criminal justice, (2009), Retrieved on May 7, 2009 from http://www.answers.com/topic/criminal-justice 2. Inciardi James, Criminal Justice,Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 9 edition (January 16, 2009, http://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Justice-James-Inciardi/dp/0073527963/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241700699&sr=1-2#reader 3. Hoffman Dennis, Criminal Justice, Publisher: Cliffs Notes; Updated edition (August 7, 2000) http://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Justice-Cliffs-Quick-Review/dp/0764585614/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241700699&sr=1-9# 4. Siegel Larry J. & Senna Joseph J. Introduction to Criminal Justice, Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 12 edition (January 5, 2009, http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Criminal-Justice-Larry-Siegel/dp/0495599778/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241700699&sr=1-11#reader 5. Pease Ken, (n.d) WORLD FACTBOOK OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS England and Wales Retrieved on May 7, 2009 from http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/wfbcjeng.txt 6. The Justice System, (2004), Retrieved on May 7, 2009 from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/justsys.htm 7. Criminal Justice System - The Importance Of Viewing Criminal Justice As A System, (2009) Retrieved on May 7, 2009 from http://law.jrank.org/pages/855/Criminal-Justice-System-importance-viewing-criminal-justice-system.html 8. Access to Justice, (2004) Retrieved on May 7, 2009 from http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:MqXDm7UFWIAJ:www.undp.org/governance/docs/Justice_PN_En.pdf+Access+to+justice&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk 9. Access to justice background paper (2003) Retrieved on May 7, 2009 from http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/report/background/1906CB985474B16DCA257060007D1405.html Read More