The prosecutor is a member of the justice system charged with the responsibility of prosecution in his or her jurisdiction (Elliott & Quinn, 2000). Prosecutors are required to exercise sound judgment in their official capacities. This means that they have to consider the context of a case before deciding to prosecute it or not. A prosecutor’s duty goes beyond convicting the accused. He or she has to ensure that justice prevails. The decision process on the cases to take or not is informed by the traditional professional conduct, the law and ethical codes. Strict adherence to the aforementioned sources of direction on prosecutor conduct and advisory board recommendations guides the decision on the cases to prosecute. This paper will focus on conduct of officers of the court. More specifically, the paper will cover the expected conduct of the police, prosecutors and judges.
The first criteria for selecting a case to pursue is the based on whether there is conflict of interest or not in the execution of the duties (Molan, 2004). Any instance that would affect his partial approach to the case or give him undue information on a case is grounds for conflict of interest (Herring, 2007). In the event a prosecutor was involved in a process before being employed by the government as a private practitioner or in any other non-governmental capacity, he or she ought to be excused from the case unless there is an n explicit law that permits representation. If a prosecutor is
The ACS codes of ethics is a part of the ACS constitution. As an ACS member you must uphold and advance the honor, dignity and effectiveness of being a professional. This involves, in addition of being a good citizen and acting within the law. While Because of their roles in developing software systems, software engineers have significant opportunities to do well or cause harm, to enable others to do well or cause harm, or to influence others to do well or cause harm. To ensure, as much as possible, that their efforts will be used for good, software engineers must commit themselves to making software engineering a beneficial
While all of the topics that we have covered throughout this course have been troubling, the topic of prosecutorial misconduct is to me one of the most distressing; the mere thought of the possibility of misconduct by prosecutors gives me the chills, and the numerous examples featured within the assigned chapter readings, in addition to the online articles, only further my skepticism in the legal system and those individuals holding official positions. There appears to be a lot of similarities between prosecutorial misconduct and the topics that we discussed as possible reasons for faulty forensic science, such as a common trust bias in police officials, lack of universal standards, and other cognitive biases such as confirmation bias and belief perseverance.
Organizational climate is essential in developing a culture of incorruptible individuals and this climate is set by the organizations leaders. Within the SCORE unit of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department (KCKPD) at the time of the indictment, it was not clear if leaders set a tone of ethical conduct, nor did it appear that principled conduct was the cornerstone of the command leadership philosophy. Specifically, all ethical standards for Kansas City Police Department are derived from Wyandotte County Unified Government code of ethics and the police department lacks police specific philosophies toward ethical conduct (Unified Government Ordinance, 2009). Although, the International Chiefs of Police have established a code of honor adopted by many police departments, it is unclear bases on empirical information what KCKPD leadership expected of their Police officers. For instance, it is vital for executive to formulate as stated by Martin (2011), “an agenda that explains the moral purposes of the department” (para. 6). Therefore, not making an ethics based agenda and delivering a repetitive and deliberate focus on such an agenda to all levels is one failure by leadership to have contributed to creating a perceived environment of unethical conduct. On the other hand, senior managers cannot root out corruption without captains, lieutenants, sergeants and senior officers. Middle and first-line leader are essential to the command structure ensuring high standards are
* Although the police, judges, defense attorneys, and probation officers remain involved in specific duties, the prosecutor proves challenged in phases of the court process. Prosecutors challenge judicial decisions at times (Byrd, 2001). The office of the prosecutor proves part of the executive branch of the government. In all phases of the court process, given broad discretion, his/her job is to advocate the guilt of defendant vigorously. The prosecutors represent the people. Prosecutor screen the case. They determine if a crime has been committed. They research the crime to examine if a suspect has proved properly identified and if the evidence is sufficient to support a guilty verdict (Schmalleger, 2011).
Criminal law is a construct of the government, enforced through tangible measures. In a democratic society, the government is elected by the citizens, and as such, laws are generally conceived with the aim to reflect whatever ethical or moral standards are presently acceptable. However, in order to be truly effective, some legislation must circumvent current sociological viewpoints in order to create laws that are genuinely in the best interests of society. This results in a delicate balancing act, as lawmakers attempt to weigh the views of the majority against the need for laws to be both reasoned and objective.
The relationship among ethics and professional behavior in the direction of criminal justice is one, which is very vital. The point of the matter is that these individuals who are in places of power entails that he or she must equalize a balanced of business professionalism in accordance with the laws alongside a code of ethics that live inside and for the law along with their individual private morals and ethics. Numerous could dispute the battle among the ethics of a lawyer on behalf of somebody that they know to be guilty and they would have a usable disagreement in regard to what way ethical it is. A lawyer has the decision to not defend an individual if they feel so motivated to do so. Still, in this state one has rules in one’s laws that
Argue for or against the theory that the courts should not hold a defendant of questionable competency to the standard sentencing guidelines.
The fact finding process during the trial of a case is one of the most critical aspects in the administration of justice. Every country has its methods to determine how a case is to be tried. It is within the prerogative of every state to determine the best approach in a court trial while considering the immortal principles of natural justice.
Particularly--in a courtroom-- the prosecutor should support the authority of the court and the dignity of the trial
Prosecutorial misconduct is defined as the use of deceptive, illegal or reprehensible methods used by a prosecutor, to attempt to persuade either the court or the jury. Wrongful convictions in this country are nothing new to the criminal justice system. They are as old as the system itself, and they will continue to exist as long as the fallibility of human judgment continues.
The facts raise questions about the effectiveness of police in the society. This is more because, allegations of police misconduct rarely result in convictions. It is, therefore, vital to look at the issue and to find answers to the following questions
Such protections however do not come to fruition without the involvement of a government prosecutor. This paper will analyze the essential part that a prosecutor has in criminal proceedings regarding victim’s rights. In particular, it will focus on the relationship between the two parties, the ethical rules and considerations a prosecutor must assess throughout the relationship, and the positive impact that such a relationship can have, not only for the
"Our results indicate that the informal methods ("manager sets an example" or "social norms of the organization") are likely to yield greater commitment with respect to both employee attitudes than formal methods ("training courses on the subject of ethics") (Adam, et al, 2004).
When discussing the relationship between law and ethics a lot of things are taken in consideration. But the first thing is to know what each of them mean. In some ways law plays a role in ethical values, while some laws can be influenced by ethical values.
The formal definition of ethics is as follows, moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity or alternatively the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles. (Ethics definition: dictionary.com, 2014)