Conflict or Consensus - Essay Example

CRIMINAL LAW: CONFLICT OR CONSENSUS The word ‘criminal’ is one of the most well known words to the society and has been known to people since the times when civilizations came to exist. A criminal is an individual or a group which goes against a set of rules laid down by the society and commits crimes such as theft, rape and murder etc. that are harmful to the interests of the larger population. As such, criminal law is a mechanism that tries a person suspected of having violated the criminal code by verifying the evidence for and against his defense and takes an appropriate action.

The criminal code of justice, and the legal system in particular was meant to serve as a weapon that would enable everyone to do their duties in a rightful manner such that it would result in mutual prosperity. However, history is evidence to the fact that the society has not adhered it and has instead used it to lever advantage in their favor. This has been the case with people belonging to the powerful and the elite, who have bent the criminal code so that most of their illegal deeds went unnoticed.

The conflict model of criminal justice, says that the organizations of a criminal justice system must work competitively as opposed to working in a cooperative manner. Issues such as fame, wealth and success have forced the criminal justice system to a conflict with itself. The conflict model has therefore suggested that there is no true legal system and that an adversarial approach has prevented legal instruments from communicating with each other. The supporters of the Conflict model argue that the conflict model is the reality of criminal justice.

The conflict model, as pointed out by Jerome Skolnick says that powerful elements such as the police and lawyers appear to do their job, rather than doing their job in reality. Powerful people like the police and the wealthy have coerced innocent people into accepting that they have committed crimes such as theft or rape. In several cases, the wealthy have twisted the legal system by covering tracks of wrongdoings such as financial wrongdoings, eliminating competitors, implicating innocent people etc.

they have grown a clout of loyal and corrupt police officials, lawyers and other legal entities, who, in reality, work for such powerful people rather than the state.The consensus model, opposes the conflict model by professing the argument that the constituents of a criminal justice system, work cooperatively and not competitively. It further goes on to says that organization of criminal law must and should work in tandem with one another. As such, this model supports the viewpoint that the criminal system is in place for the welfare of the society at large and is in place to maintain law and order.

However, we all are aware of the fact that people entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining and following the legal procedures of criminal law have been using it for their own benefit. Imagine the dominant number of countries of the world, whose government and officials are notoriously famous for using the state machinery to harass the general public in every possible way. In this respect, it must also be argues that even if state organizations were to look as if they were acting together to uphold the law, the real truth is that in most cases, unless there is a sense of fear of losing ground or a massive public outcry, legal agencies have always used criminal law to gain more power.

They have utilized the system to derive monetary and political benefits and as a base to appease their masters. As such, it can be concluded that the current legal system across a major part of the world works in the interest of a wealthy and powerful elite rather than towards the interest of the society at large.