Australian Criminal Laws - Assignment Example

Essay – Issues in Investigation "All investigations that are undertaken by police (criminal or otherwise) must be premised on a genuine and dedicated search for the truth." Introduction: Crime is any socially, legally or morally inappropriate activity. Although it’s impossible to be eradicated completely, but it’s possible to minimize it to the lowest level possible. The society that manages to do so is considered to be among the most stable ones. Since the crimes are a kind of offence, they should be dealt accordingly. The criminal commits assault so he should be punished consequently. But what if the wrong person gets caught and is punished for nothing. Or the criminal that committed a bigger crime gets away with a smaller punishment. Such and many other situations occur when proper investigation is not carried out. Therefore, it is very important for the police, or any other concerned agency like FBI etc for that matter, to conduct a proper investigation in search of truth! The essay discusses different vital points and steps necessary to make an investigation genuine and successful. It talks about different measures taken in order to conduct a proper investigation in accordance with the Australian Criminal Laws. Such steps include: A logical sequence of investigation was followed: Investigating for a crime is no child’s play. It’s a bit too complicated a task to be accomplished. One needs to be very careful at every single step in order to eliminate even the slightest chance of injustice, biasness, prejudice and inequality. So, it’s better, in fact necessary, to follow a logical sequence and format while carrying out the investigation. It’s a scientific world out there and science is being integrated in practically each and every field of life. Carrying out an investigation using a scientific method not only makes it properly integrated and easier to carry out, but also makes it easier to comprehend, acknowledge and accept. A scientific method basically relates to using proper techniques for acquiring necessary knowledge and/or correcting any wrong and misleading previous knowledge, if any. Such methods might include simple psychological and experimental steps to complicated truth-reading and lie-detecting devices. These methods can be applied in carrying out the investigation in many ways. Sometimes, although it might seem weird, but only the threat of using such techniques work out and makes the criminals speak it out. Apart from that, the experimentations and observations broaden the spectrum and the course of investigation. As stated earlier, these methods make the investigation much more acceptable and agreeable as well. That is why, these logical sequences are very important to give a logical, rational and reasonable. In relation to the Australian criminal laws, applying logical sequences for crime investigation is a vital step in the search for truth. It forms the base of the whole investigation plot. All available physical evidence was legally obtained: Now, how the physical evidence for carrying out the investigation is a very prominent area of concern. The sources of evidence have a very deep impact on the further steps of the study of crime. It is extremely important for the sources of evidences to be genuine, original, accurate and free of errors or biasness. To accomplish this task, the best approach is to obtain the evidences legally; no matter how big or petite the matter is. What exactly is meant from obtaining evidences legally, is the integration of the legal procedures (like search warrants, arrest warrants, special permissions etc) for conducting search and obtaining evidences, in order to avoid any claims whatsoever against the evidences in this regard. The Australian laws state the importance of legally obtaining these evidences like any other country to ensure the investigation is just in legal terms, is possible to state in legal papers, etc. it also ensures the safety of the people being investigated and gives them their just right to take legal action if they are wronged. It is also very important to obtain evidences legally, so that the whole investigation is legalized and can be supported with appropriate legal actions and procedures. All witnesses were effectively interviewed: Witnesses comprise a critical and vital part of an investigation. The people who saw, heard or witnessed the crime scene in any other possible manner, can prove to be a very important source of information and can help to a very great extent in investigating the crime. In order to get the most of it, i.e. to get to the root of the witness’ observations, the interview of the witnesses should be carried out in an efficient and effective manner. What is meant from an effective interview is that the witness is not pressed hard upon or forced for the task. He/she should be made comfortable and helped out in remembering even the tiniest details to get the best possible account of the crime scene. The procedure might include usage of flash/memory cards, verbal reinforcements, creating a similar scenario or just simple questioning; all to facilitate the witness remember, recollect and explain the actual, rather than altered picture of crime. Australian law emphasizes upon an efficient way of interviewing the witnesses to make the investigation crystal clear and transparent and to avoid an the witnesses to make the investigation crystal clear and transparent and to avoid anyone being punished for the crime not committed as well as to prevent any criminal getting away without being punished accordingly. All suspects were legally and effectively interviewed: Like it’s very important for the witnesses to be interviewed very efficiently and effectively, it’s equally important for the suspects to be interviewed as efficiently and effectively as well. Any person whom the police or any other investigating team which is in charge finds suspicious in this regard, should always be questioned as effectively as possibly so that no ambiguity is left in mind. However, it should always be kept in mind, no matter what, that until and unless the crime is proved, a suspect is only a suspect, regardless of how suspicious or criminal-like they seem to be. This is a very important thing to be kept in mind to avoid any harshness and violation of human rights whatsoever. Australian laws support effective interviewing of the suspects to ensure proper investigation of the crime but they have always supported human rights and morale of the civilians equally as well. Therefore, breach of such rules is not acceptable. When interviewing the suspects, not only their wordings and statements are the matter of concern. The body language and gestures etc of the suspect is of a lot of importance as well. If a person is lying, a careful study of his body language can prove it all. All leads were thoroughly developed: When done with collecting evidences and interviewing witnesses and suspects, etc, its time to develop the leads very carefully and thoroughly. The clues collected and combined together should now be integrated to make a perfect sense out of it and to proceed towards the final steps of the investigation. Here comes the concept of inculpatory and exculpatory evidences of the investigation. Those evidences that turned out to be correct and worthwhile and are included in the investigation are termed as inculpatory evidences of the investigation. On the other hand, the evidences that were not very useful, were proved wrong or, for any other reason, were ruled out of the investigation are called the exculpatory evidences of the investigation. Developing the leads is one of the main and most important, yet one of the toughest parts of an investigation; its chief reason being that only a slight mistake can make an inculpatory evidence exculpatory, and vice versa. A tiny error can make an innocent person a criminal or an offender a harmless soul. Apart from that, another important point is to develop practically “all” leads in a thorough and satisfactory way, since only a single lead might be so crucial that it might just change the entire direction and flow of the investigation. All details of the case were accurately and completely recorded and reported: When the investigation is fully carried out and (whether or not) the results are extracted, now it is time to compile all the information gathered in a sequential pattern. The evidences collected, the interviews taken, the possibilities considered and those rejected, all need to be recorded and reported in a proper manner. A special notice should be taken of the fact that all the information and details are as accurate as possible so that no doubt is left and no ambiguity is caused. The Australian law demands paying considerable attention in this criteria since it is one of the most important aspects of an investigations; primarily for future reference; be it for the further or reinvestigation of the same case, or for reference for carrying out investigation for any other case. If the facts n figures are reported accurately and completely, it might prove to be of immense help when (or if) needed in future. They might just save a lot of time since this will be a reference for similar future investigations. All in all, it is a vital part of any investigation, which, in some cases, is neglected, which should not be the practice at all! Conclusion: The essay discussed about various different steps and methods involved in a proper, concise and just investigation for a criminal activity. From determining a logical sequence to collection of physical evidence to interviewing witnesses as well as the suspects carefully to developing the final leads to finally recording and reporting the whole investigation for future reference, each step is very important and unmatched in its place. Take out one and the whole investigation is destroyed. In accordance with the Australian criminal laws and case studies analyzed, the investigation is very human oriented and does not violate any human right. In fact, it supports the idea of giving even the criminals, various leverages to enjoy so that no right is offended. I, therefore, conclude that it is very important to carry out these steps in an effective manner, while carrying out an investigation, to ensure a just investigation that is free from all sorts of biases, prejudices and partialities! Bibliography: Books: Colin Howard. Australian Criminal Law 1970. Ray S. Watson, Arthur Watson. Australian Criminal Law: Federal Offences 1985. Wayne W. Bennett, Kären M. Hess. Criminal Investigation 2003. Lloyd L. Weinreb. The Law of Criminal Investigation: A Book for Law Enforcement Personnel 1982. Alfred Lucas. Forensic Chemistry and Scientific Criminal Investigation 1921. Michael G. Maxfield, Earl R. Babbie. Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology - 2004. Joseph J. Grau, Ben Jacobson. Criminal and Civil Investigation Handbook 1981. Guy Antinozzi, Alan Axelrod. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Criminal Investigation 2003. Read More