The Misconceptions That Have Surrounded the Criminal Judicial System - Essay Example

Introduction It is a known fact that the misconceptions that has surrounded the criminal judicial system has degraded the performance of the criminal judicial system, and the wave of corruption has taken over the entire criminal judicial setup, it is because, 'instead of serving the community by convicting the guilty and protecting the victims, the criminal justice system is dominated by wily defense lawyers, indifferent judges and defendants who bully witnesses and indeed the court itself' (Felix, 2006), the previous confidence which the public held over the rulings and the verdicts of the courts have nullified and diluted. The people believe that the lawyers adopt different tactics to influence the witness, and in some of the cases the witnesses are targeted and are threatened with dire consequences for their interpretation, therefore the witness give-up their version interpretation and act as per the interpretation of the lawyer. The criminal courts have also being accused of the wrongful conviction, there have been cases where courts have issued unexpected verdicts, and therefore the morale of the people has diminished. In Canada, there have been instances where the people have lodged strong opposition against the ruling of the criminal courts, as a result, 'judges in some jurisdictions being sent on a three days course on avoiding wrongful convictions' (Felix, 2006). The important factor that has to be addressed is the reasons which have been responsible for the corrupt and manipulated verdicts and the proceedings of the courts. The reasons attributed towards the failure of the criminal court in the dispersion of justice have been the over-confident statements and stands of the witnesses, there have been cases where bogus prosecution experts were hired, and therefore the dispensation of justice was halted. The failure of the criminal courts is also accorded with the 'lying jailhouse informants, overzealous prosecutors and inept lawyers' (Felix, 2006) who are accused of jeopardizing the constitutional and legal rights of the accused for trail. The wrongful convictions have not being under continuous criticism, but in some of the high profile cases when the criminal courts have failed to dispense the justice, the courts and their performance have been critically evaluated by the public. The domain of the high profile case includes the involvement and participation of the press and the police. The criminal judicial system is also affected by the public opinion. It has been observed that there have been cases where the prominent figures were accused of crimes, but because those prominent figures enjoyed good public opinion, the courts were bound to respect the public opinion, else serious communal riots could have initiated. In past several religious authorities were accused of crimes, and the evidences were strongly against them, but because the government expected that a retaliation from the local population, therefore the criminal courts were influenced and were forced to acquit the accused religious personnel, therefore there is a need to ensure not only internal transparency, but the role of the external forces should be minimal and only then the performance of the criminal judicial system can improve (Lester, 2005). Discussion The criminal justice system has empowered the prosecutor to deplore and condemn the defense, and has the right to inlfuence the verdict, and identifies the nature and severity of the punishment. The particular problem with reference to the criminal justice system has been the 'historical legacy of assimilation' (Felix, 2006), and traces of which are related 'to the impact of European assimilation'. The economic, social and political life of the aboriginal people experienced silent revolution and silent imposition of command and authority deeply influenced their behavior and practices, and therefore their life style and perspective varied greatly. The criminal justice system has failed to incorporate allowances towards such adjustment, and has undertaken ignorant approach towards the concern of the aboriginal people (Philip, 1995). The aboriginal people have complained and protested against the breach of their conduct and practices, unfortunately their grievances and concerns have been ignored, even the criminal judicial system has been ignorant towards such concerns. The aboriginal people have experienced extreme difficulty, and the aggravation of their economic and social conditions have left them with no other option but to involve themselves into crime and other practices, for two different reasons i.e. to fulfill their economic and social needs through illegal, possible and easy means and secondly to use such a medium to lodge their protest against the discriminatory attitude adopted by the authority towards aboriginal people. The intervention into the normal routine of the aboriginal people, and ignorance towards their grievances and concerns, followed by the 'loss of the traditional Aboriginal way of life went beyond simple economic factors, followed by the health problems, the pressures of foreign cultures and religions, and the introduction of new technologies also led to the demise of aboriginal habitat and lifestyle' (Robert, 2003) have enraged the local habitants, and they have burst their outrage in the form of communal violence and other unlawful practices. The failure on the behalf of the criminal judicial system has been that it has awarded capital punishment to the criminals, and has not taken any effective measure for the rectification of the problems and concerns of the aboriginal people. The punishment awarded to the criminals itself is not the right the rectification of the dispute; rather it is important for the criminal court to instruct and advice the government to take concrete steps for the protection and safeguard of the interests of the aboriginal people. The problem in this case is not the evil, but the authoritative forces which have adopted ignorant approach towards the evil, and their expected evil practices (Raymond, 1974). The criminal judicial system on its part has failed to encourage and motivates the government to take remedial measures, because the persecution of the aboriginal people involved in the crime will nether improve the law and order situation, or resolve the concerns of the aboriginal people related to poverty, education and health care issues, and their discrimination on racial and ethnic pretext. The judicial system is therefore responsible for its failure to make the government liable for its failure to secure the future and resolve the concerns of the aboriginal people, if the responsibility of the judicial system is to prevent any expected failure or collapse of the law and order situation, the similar court is said to be responsible for ascertainment of the causes behind the deterioration of the law and order situation, and spreading violence (Robert, 2003). The social practices ignored by the criminal judicial system have developed a feeling of hatred among the aboriginal people. There have been several incidents of victimization towards aboriginal people in which either the community was neglected, or the members of community were abused and mistreated, 'such historical factors, as well as present socio-economic conditions, have contributed greatly to disproportionate levels of aboriginal incarceration, poverty, unemployment, alcohol abuse, and domestic violence, and to the absence of stable business infrastructures' (Robert, 2003), therefore it can be concluded that the behavior and the practices of the aboriginal people are not to be purely judged from criminal perspective, rather such practices are the reflection of the social problems experienced by the community. It is erroneous that the criminal judicial system has ignored such factors before the announcement of any verdict or indictment. The source of the evil is not the violence or deterioration of the law and order, but it is the deprivation of the political, social and economic rights of the community, these factors are completely avoided and ignored by the criminal court, and the defendant is awarded sentence purely on the basis of the action it performed, and amount of damage it caused. According to the reports the criminal litigation have been mainly conducted against aboriginal people or the people from other ethnic or racial background, thus the criminal rate is extremely high among the minorities or the communities which are deprived of their social, political and economic rights (Roscoe, 1997). The criminal courts are supposed to perform improved role of arbitration and accountability, and the same courts have to respect and abide by the government and public aspirations. The performance of the criminal courts can greatly improve provided that the workload is reasonable, in this regard it is important to evolve a strategy of social action through which the reduction of the crime rate is achievable in initial stages, and then the criminal activities are eliminated entirely. The sources of the criminal activities have their associated with any kind of social, economic and political deprivation, therefore constitutionally the criminal court is not liable to ensure the access of the people to the basic social, economic and political rights, but it is the responsibility of the criminal courts to ensure that government has provided basic amenities to the population so that the criminal activities can be reduced. In this regard the criminal courts have to enhance their level of performance and efficiency; they have to ensure that the courts are transparent in their conduct. It is important for the criminal courts not to get influenced by any external pressure, ' the courts should not be controlled by public sentiment, and neither should they lose the confidence of the population' (John, 2003). Recommendations The overall performance and the efficiency of the criminal courts can significantly improve through different measures in particular by providing protection and security to the judges of the criminal courts. The social, political and economic issues should be necessarily resolved, because in the presence of such issues it becomes crucial for the courts to award punishment to the individual, who merely performed such criminal practices either to lodge his protest against the government, or to achieve resources for his family. Such situations make it difficult for the criminal courts to differentiate between the intentional crime and the forced crime. If the criminal court is accused of sentencing the wrong party, the public sentiments are expected to get hurt, and public outburst can be expected. Such possibility should be avoided by the criminal courts, by ordering detailed investigation of the crime, so that the accused could be identified. Such exercise can be conducted provided the government offer possible assistance and resources to the courts and the investigation tribunals. The criminal judicial courts should be entitled to appropriate financial packages to the judges to ensure that corrupt practices can be fully avoided. References 1. Felix Frankfurter, James McCauley Landis. The Business of the Supreme Court: A Study in the Federal Judicial System. Transaction Publishers. 2006. pp. 213 2. Lester Bernhardt Orfield. Criminal Procedure From Arrest To Appeal. The Law book Exchange Publishers. 2005. pp. 121 3. Raymond Moley. Our Criminal Courts. Ayer Publishing. 1974. pp. 89 4. Robert Harris. Political Corruption: In and Beyond the Nation State. Routledge Publication. 2003. pp. 187 5. John Girling. Corruption, Capitalism and Democracy. Routledge Publication. 1997. pp. 176 6. Roscoe Pound. Criminal Justice in America. Transaction Publishers. 1997. pp. 89 7. Philip C. Stenning. Accountability for Criminal Justice. University of Toronto Press. 1995. pp. 165 Read More