LECTURE 1: Intro to the criminal justice system

Question 1

The role of the CJS

Answer 1

1. Responsible for upholding the law in the interest of all citizens
2. To deliver justice for all by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent
3. To detect crime and bring it to justice
4. To carry out court orders such as collecting fines, and supervising community and custodial punishment

Question 2

Components of the CJS in England and Wales

Answer 2

1. The police service
2. The Crown prosecution service
3. The court service
   
   • Magistrates court
   • The crown court
   • The appeal courts
   • The Supreme courts
4. The youth justice board
5. The serious fraud office
6. The legal aid agency
7. The criminal injuries compensation authority
8. Other victim and witness care services

Question 3

Make a diagram of the CJS in England and Wales

Answer 3

1. Crime is reported to the police
2. Police arrests suspect
3. Charge or summons suspect
4. CPS receives info on crime and suspect
5. CPS proceeds with charge
   6: Magistrates court hearing
   6.1. Indictable offence
   6.2 Either way trial
   6.3 Summery offence
6. Crown court
7. Sentence
   OR
8. High court
9. Court of appeal
10. Supreme court

Question 4

Crime control model

Answer 4

• Focus on obtaining conviction. However, one key drawback is the miscarriage of justice
• Control of crime and punishment of offender
• Limit the liberties of the offender
• Convicting an offender- mechanism there is control of crime and punishment of the offender

Question 5

Medical model

Answer 5

• Focus on rehabilitating the offender. Attempts to identify the reason behind the crime.- this is more important than convicting an offender
• Concerned with criminal behavior
• Rehabilitation (focus is not on punishment)

Question 6

Restorative justice model

Answer 6

• Focus getting the offender to recognize his/her responsibility. Like the second model.
• Rectify the wrong that was made to the victim
• Make amends to the victim
• Victim centric

Question 7

The bureaucratic model

Answer 7

• Focus on efficient processing of offenders through the system
• Does not focus on the victim or the offender but the process
• Efficiency of the CJS (not concerned with individual rights)
• To get the offender through in a logical, sequential and proper manner.
• Can be miscarriages of justice that occur

Question 8

Status passage model

Answer 8

• Focus on the degradation and shaming of the offender- Punishment
• Enable other to identify this person as an offender so he is always shamed

Question 9

Power model

Answer 9

• Focus on class structure and maintenance of a particular social class order
• Not implemented in its entirety

Question 10

Social integration and exclusion model

Answer 10

• Focus on differentiation of a suspect population that socially excludes.
• Criminal profiling

Question 11

What are the objectives of ALL models?

Answer 11

• Punish wrongdores
• Protect individual liberties
• State wants to prevent crime

Question 12

CPS: Crown prosecution service

Answer 12

• Responsible for prosecuting criminal cases investigated by the police and other investigative authorities, in England and Wales.
• Non-ministerial department (deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil servants).

Question 13

Magistrates court

Answer 13

1. All criminal cases start in a magistrates’ court.
2. Cases are heard by either:
   
   • 2 or 3 magistrates, a district judge
3. There is not a jury in a magistrates’ court.
4. A magistrates’ court normally handles cases known as ‘summary offences’, for example:
   
   • most motoring offences, minor criminal damage, common assault (not causing significant injury)
5. It can also deal with some of the more serious offences, such as:
   
   • burglary, drugs offences
     - These are called ‘either way’ offences and can be heard either in a magistrates’ court or a Crown Court.
6. Magistrates’ courts always pass the most serious crimes to the Crown Court, for example:
   
   • murder, rape, robbery
     - These are known as ‘indictable offences’.

Question 14

Summery offences

Answer 14

• A criminal offence that is only triable (summarily) in the magistrates’ court.
• In limited circumstances, specific summary offences can be dealt with in the Crown Court if attached to a relevant either-way or indictable-only offence in that court (section 40, Criminal Justice Act 1998).

Question 15

Crown court

Answer 15

1. A Crown Court deals with serious criminal cases, for example:
   
   • murder, rape, robbery
     - It also deals with:
   • appeals against a magistrates’ court conviction or sentence, cases passed from a magistrates’ court for trial or sentencing
2. normally has a jury - which decides if you’re guilty or not
3. has a judge - who decides what sentence you get
4. A Crown Court can give a range of sentences including:
   
   • [community sentences]
   • [prison sentences]- including life sentences