Criminal Justice System in England

There are three components for the criminal justice system is the police, the courts and then corrections. The police enforce the law by apprehending offenders, investigating crimes and also trying to prevent crimes among other things. The courts conduct fair and impartial trials; they determine criminal cases and decide if an offender is guilty or innocent along with many other things. Corrections carry out sentences that have been decided by the courts, they protect the public, and they rehabilitate; reform and reintegrate convicted offenders back into society (2011 CJi Interactive)..

The criminal justice system is responsible for enforcing the laws created at each level of government. A major part of enforcing the laws is detaining the people who break them. The way that an offender is punished for a crime can be different depending on age or the type of crime committed. Depending on the age of the offender they could go through the juvenile or adult corrections system. Each system has levels like parole and probation built in to help rehabilitate the offender. Another form of corrections that is used is community corrections. This form allows citizens to help with the corrections process while giving offenders a second

The pre-trial powers which the state are provided with lie with the police force. They are empowered with the authority to arrest, interrogate and detain suspects. If the police see a person and suspect the are someone who is committing a known crime then, under s.13(1) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, they can either ask for an

Following the arraignment of the accused, and where a plea of not guilty is entered, the accused is open to be tried by a jury made up of his peers. At this point it is said that he is put in their charge where he remains until such time as he chooses to change his plea to guilty, or until a final determination of his guilt or innocence is returned by the verdict of the jury.

The court is the second component of the justice system – once the suspect is arrested, s/he is referred to as a defendant. It is now up to the court to decide if the police had enough evidence for probable cause for arrest – if the determination is positive, then the defendant gets an opportunity to plead innocent or guilty. Once the court establishes that the defendant is innocent, s/he is released; on the other hand if the defendant is found guilty the court decides the type of punishment and then the defendant is turned over to the Corrections for the follow up of the punishment.

The NSW police force also follows a specific code of behaviour called the code of practice for CRIME (custody, rights, investigation, management and evidence) which sets out the rights of the suspect and the manner in which the investigation should be carried out, it also includes that all citizens must be treated fairly regardless of race, religion, ethnic background and sex. Police are not allowed to detain a person unless they have good reason to do so, if enough evidence and a warrant is issued the police may arrest someone for the crime they are investigating. The accused will be held in police custody for questioning, this is known as interrogation. At the end of the detention period the police will make a decision whether the suspect will attend a court hearing or be released unconditionally. If the accused believes that this procedure has not been adhered to appropriately they have the right to report their opinion through a complaints procedure overseen by the NSW ombudsmen and the police integrity commission. (Case)

The United States criminal justice system has three main components: law enforcement, courts (both civil and criminal) and corrections. The law enforcement component is made up of agencies whose task it is to prevent, detect and investigate crimes. The job of the courts is to hear cases and decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent and to give out proper punishments. The corrections system (or penal system) refers to agencies such as prisons and probation that enforce the courts punishments.

The criminal justice system consist of a system of laws and processes that protect community members and the public. It defines which actions causing injury or offence to community members are criminal, and offenders may face fines, imprisonment and/or community service as sanctions for their criminal acts.

The criminal justice system is comprised of a basic formation, the law enforcement agencies, the courts, and the correctional services. This system has existed since ancient times and although the three facilities haven’t completely been replaced over the centuries, there has been a lot of change and amendment to how the system is used to investigate, deter, and keep order and control in today’s society. It is a fundamental part of our society and we know that comprehensive, effective, and nondiscriminatory implementation of criminal justice system powers is essential to ending violence, both for freeing individual and for ending the worldwide epidemic of violence

Every detainee must have a custody record opened for them when in police detention. All information is recorded here by the custody sergeant with relevant times and dates also recorded, verified by the custody officer’s signature (PACE act 1984). The Custody record is an ‘open’ document that must be made available to the defence, a detainee’s solicitor is entitled to see the custody record the moment of arrival at a designated police station and must be given a copy at request any time within 12 months of the detainee leaving police detention or coming before the courts. It is the Custody Sergeants responsibility to make sure that the custody record is kept up to date, accurate, and complete. The detainees must also be read out their three basic rights under code C of the PACE act, these rights are the right to have somebody informed of their arrest, the right to consult with a solicitor and be given free legal advice and the right to consult the codes of practice (YourRights 2007). The Custody officer must also assess mental health and identify any communication barriers; this may result in the need for an interpreter or possibly even the consultation of a doctor. They must also review any evidence relating to the investigation and decide whether there is a sufficient amount to charge or whether the detainee must be kept in custody so more evidence can be obtained. The custody officer must determine whether he

In order for a pretrial to take place, there needs to be a decision to charge. This begins with an officer bringing a case to a prosecutor, whose job is to determine if there is enough information derived by the responding officer on behalf of the case, which could prove the suspect was involved in the crime. Once a case is given to the prosecuting attorney, there needs to be enough probable cause to detain the suspect. The case is then given to independent magistrates to make a quick decision on whether or not there is enough probable cause to defend the officer’s determination to make an arrest. Whether or not there is sufficient probable cause to detain a suspect is decided at the first appearance.

The person that has been arrested and now booked goes to court where a judge reads them their rights, informs the suspect of his or her charges, and then based on certain circumstances will either charge, drop, or dismiss the case judge informs the suspect of his or her charges, However, if the suspect is found guilty, the next step in the criminal justice system would be to sentence them.

At the core, there are three main part of the United Sates criminal justice system: law enforcement, courts and corrections. Modern-day criminal justice continues to be a complex part of our society. The United States criminal justice system is broken down into three different parts to maintain the philosophy of dealing with criminals in a different stage of their criminal activity. The first component of the criminal justice and perhaps the most important within the system is law enforcement. This aspect of the criminal justice system includes the local police department form each state with their police officers and detective and personal. Law enforcement is a key aspect within the main components because they are the ones responsible for investigating /capturing individuals who break the laws set forth by the state and federal government.

This journal focuses on the aims of criminal justice system in delivering quality service to the community through public safety enhancement. The author has highlighte some of the measures and steps the system has taken to ensure it achieves its objectives and interaction with various parties. These parties include; victims, witnesses, the accused and criminal justice professionals.

This report shall examine the role of the police in the criminal justice system. For background it will detail a brief history of the development of the police then look at the later development of police powers of arrest, detention and of stop and search. Further to this it will examine the role of the police in miscarriages of justice and the effects of these miscarriages on the development of safeguards for people detained by the police. Also the measures taken to prevent further miscarriages of justice such as the development of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to decide if the evidence is there and a prosecution is likely to be successful.