Introduction to Criminal Justice in Australia - Essay Example

Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE Introduction to Criminal Justice Name Course Date Introduction to Criminal Justice, No. 2. Introduction The criminal justice system is very vital within the society since it sets out regulations and purposes that govern individuals and ensures that the interests of the society are protected. The main function of a criminal justice system is to sustain social control and to provide justice for all. The government uses this system to oversee justice and the system strives to accomplish this through conviction and punishment of the guilty and assisting them to refrain from committing offences while protecting the innocent people at the same time (Burns, 2009). One of the key objectives of the Australian criminal justice system is to uphold public confidence and this objective is met by bringing more offenders to justice. When this objective is accomplished, this raises public confidence that the system is fair and just as well. In this essay, the fairness and justness of the current criminal justice system is examined in addition to its weaknesses and strengths. The state and territories have the key responsibilities and powers within the federal government in Australia. This is in relation to most of the social matters affecting the Australian residents. Consequently, the parliaments or the legislatures in every jurisdiction have the law making procedure powers in these issues. A legislative power in regard to the administration of criminal justice is an example of power that is in the six states and two territories. This means that there is no sole criminal justice system within Australia (Chappell, 1995). The states and territories have split and self governing systems of police, courts, juvenile institutes, prisons and other counteractive and treatment services in the criminal justice system. The system has got two criminal justice systems which are present in all states within Australia and territories which include the Federal criminal justice system and the applicable state system. Above all, the law within the system is controlled by the appropriate State and Territorial Police services, the National Crime Authority and State & Territorial curative or punitive services. This means that the system is served by professionals and that the workers are normally unbiased since the system is independent and upholds impartiality in its activities (Knafla, 2006). The legislation of the Australian criminal justice system is governed by a central system which means that it upholds impartiality. The states and territories have got legislative powers regarding all issues that are not particularly vested within the Commonwealth of Australia. This is the law that chiefly administrates the daily lives of many Australians and hence the system has unbiased system that governs them (Bagaric, 2007). The system also has got Law enforcement component which provides the services of the police. Here, the police officers are the ones who are responsible for sustaining the law, maintenance of peace and preventing the Australians and those present from breaking the law. Therefore, the system has got the police who arrest the offenders but they do not prosecute them. They bring them to court whereby the jury decides if they are innocent or not (Lehman, 1997). When it comes to the courts within the system, they form a chain of command. This means that the petty offenders are not judged in the same courts as the serious criminals. There is a court of jurisdiction which deals with small offences like little debts, small property claims and small criminal activities. The subsequent courts are known as District Courts whereby they have a substantial though restricted criminal jurisdiction. The District courts are followed by the State & Territorial Supreme Courts and the Federal Court of Australia which have the original and appellate jurisdiction which means that an issue can be brought before the court for a first time and also a matter can be brought to court resulting from an appeal from another court. This gives the Australians a chance to appeal for cases they feel that may be the judgment was unfair or the offender did not deserve such a judgment. They can appeal for the sentence to be reduced or for overall judgment (Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, 2007). The utmost court within Australian criminal justice system is the High court which has the original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction as well. Basically, the High court serves Australians with two functions; to begin with, it is of exceptional significance where constitutional issues are a subject and also High court is the Australian’s common court of appeal from Supreme Courts. This also gives Australians a chance to appeal if they feel they are not satisfied with the jury’s judgment. Importantly, In Australia, every state, Territory and the Commonwealth have Tribunals and several other mechanisms designed to tackle many jurisdictions comparable to courts. These organizations have variety of specialist functions which include licensing, arbitration and trying many cases where a child is charged with an offence. This ensures that children are not tried in the same environment as adults which would be unfair to them (National Library Australia, 2007). The main elements of the Australian criminal and justice system is that there should be assumption of innocence, fair jury trials and judges are not biased incase a judge is seen to be biased and judging unfairly an action is taken. Moreover, there is a provision for protection of witnesses when necessary. The assumption of innocence until proven guilty is applied in this system and hence the system respects this human basic right. In the system, anyone charged with an offence has a right to be assumed to be innocent until a time when evidence is gathered to prove him or her guilty in accordance with law at which the offender has had all the guarantees essential for his defence. The guarantees essential for the defence are availed by the presence of public defenders and legal aid programs. Furthermore, the individuals have the right to represent themselves incase they choose to do so (National Library Australia, 1999). Within a criminal justice system, the police are the ones who enforce the laws, maintain peace and prevent offenders from breaking the laws and incase someone breaks the law, the police carry out an investigation of the perceived crime and on identifying the offender they bring charges to them in the court. Again, the police have the right to arrest the individual breaking the laws and avail evidence for the offences to the court but they however do not have the power of determining if the individual is guilty or not. Australia has the police body called Australian Federal police (Brill, 1999). The Australian Federal police probe offences committed against the federal law and this includes illegal migration, trafficking of the drug and also the crimes committed against the national security and environment. Therefore, the current criminal justice system has the right mechanisms meant for dealing with the offenders. This goes a long way in ensuring that justice is accomplished through conviction and punishment of the guilty and assistance of them to refrain from committing offences while protecting the innocent people at the same time (New South Wales Law Reform Commission, 1997). The system also guards the society from committing offences that endanger their lives in way. In making some acts crimes, this drives people from engaging in such activities which I the long run have negative effects on the society at large. For instance, anyone caught driving under influence is bound to face a limit fine of $2200, six to twelve moths disqualification of driving license and about nine months imprisonment. This definitely hinders many Australians from driving under influence which normally results into many road accidents and at times deaths. Therefore, it is just right concluding that the system is fair since it cares and addresses the welfare of the society (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996). In a nutshell, the Australian criminal justice system is fair since each and everyone is tried and judged equally by the system irrespective of the origin and also the structure of the system is founded on the rule of the law model and hence everyone is regulated by the law irrespective of the rank whether strong politically or not. This means that when anyone commits an offence, he/she faces trying and charges despite the rank. This is fair since it restrains the powerful from acts of impunity since they face the law. Moreover, both poor and rich face the same law which ensures the system does not bias the poor. The system also offers legal help to the people who do not afford the representation legally giving them a chance to have legal representation (Wilson, 2007). The weakness of the criminal justice system is that offenders normally face some difficult situations. Within Australia, any individual who is over eighteen years and commits an offence or who gets apprehended for allegedly committing an offence is dealt with in the adult criminal justice system. Once a person is convicted, the prisoner is jailed and is basically forgotten about by the common population. The rights of the prisoners, circumstance of the prisoner accessing health safety and many other issues are in many times in conflict with the administration policies which offer administration judgment and convenience overruling significance in police administration. At times, there are cases of unwarranted fines being imposed and at times cruel or abnormal punishment is inflicted to prisoners. The system also seems to favor the rich since they are able to pay the fines escaping the punishment while the poor have to undergo the punishment if they lack the funds to pay for the fine (Sadakat, 2005). Conclusion However, despite its weaknesses, its strengths out rightly supersede its weaknesses since the system has tried to maintain fairness at all levels of its practice. For instance, the system listens to the accused but nevertheless it does let the appeals and complains to abhor it from judging the accused justly. The system is systematically structured and the judges in these courts are professionals in the field and hence they handle the cases in ensuring cases are dealt with appropriately. This and many others prove that the system’s strengths supersede the weakness and hence the conclusion that the system is fair is justified. References Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1996). Year book Australia, Issue 70. Oceania: Aust. Bureau of Statistics. Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology. (2007). The Australian & New Zealand journal of criminology, Volumes 13-14. Michigan: Southdown Press Pty. Bagaric, M. (2007). Australian Sentencing: Principles and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Brill, S. (1999). Trial by Jury. New York: American Lawyer Books. Burns, R. (2009). The Death of the American Trial. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. Chappell, M. (1995). The Australian criminal justice system: the mid 1990s. Sydney: Butterworth’s. Knafla, A. (2006). Criminal Justice History: An International Annual. Sydney: Greenwood Publishing Group. Lehman, D. (1997). We the jury. New York: Prometheus Books. National Library Australia. (2007). Australian legal affairs system. New Jersey: National Library Australia. National Library of Australia. (1995). APAIS, Australian public affairs information service: a subject index to current literature. Michigan: National Library of Australia. National Library Australia. (1999). Australian national bibliography. Austria: National Library Australia. New South Wales Law Reform Commission. (1997). People with an intellectual disability and the criminal justice system: policing issues. California: The Commission. Sadakat, K. (2005). The Trial: A History from Socrates to O.J. Simpson. HarperCollins: New York. Wilson, R. (2007). The Australian criminal justice system. California: Butterworth’s. Read More