The Criminal Justice System Flashcards
1
Q
What is Actus Reus?
A
- A guilty act
2
Q
What is Mens Rea?
A
- A guilty mind
3
Q
What are the three tyoes of offence?
A
- Summary offences
- Either-way offences
- indictable offences
4
Q
Where are summary offences heard?
A
- Magistrates court
5
Q
Where are either-way offences heard?
A
- Magistrates court
- Crown court
6
Q
Where are indictable offences heard?
A
- Crown court
7
Q
What are the crime trends in the Uk?
A
- Shoplifting rates on the rise
- Decrease in domestic abuse
- Increase in sexual assault
- Increase in robberies with a knife/sharp instrument
8
Q
What are the different institutions?
A
- The police
- The crown prosecution service
- HM courts and tribunals service
- The Home Office
- The Ministry of Justice
- The Attorney General
9
Q
What is the role of the police?
A
- Responsible for investigating crime, collecting evidence and arresting or detaining suspected offenders
10
Q
What is the role of the crown prosecution service?
A
- prosecutes criminal cases
- independent of police and government
- overseen by his majesty’s crown prosecution service inspectorate
11
Q
What is the role of the Her Majesty’s courts and tribunals service?
A
- responsible for the administration of courts and tribunals in England and Wales
12
Q
What are his majesty’s prison and probation service?
A
- Responsible for carrying out sentences given by the courts, in custody and in the community and rehabilitation through education and employment
13
Q
What is the role of the home office?
A
- The lead government department for crime and the police, and other matters
14
Q
What is the role of the Ministry of Justice?
A
- Responsible for the courts, prisons, probation services and attendance centres
15
Q
What is the role of the Attorney General?
A
- The chief legal adviser to the Government (superintends the CPS and Serious Fraud Office)
- Responsible for the Government Legal Department (supported by the solicitor general)
16
Q
What are the theories of criminal justice?
A
- Due process model
- Crime control model
- Rehabilitation model
- Restorative jusice model
- Bureaucratic module
17
Q
What is the due process model?
A
- Aims for a just process through fairness and rules to protect the accused
18
Q
What is the crime control model?
A
- Aims primarily for controlling crime
19
Q
What is the rehabilitation model?
A
- Aims for rehabilitation of the offender
20
Q
What is the restorative justice model?
A
- Aim is that the offender recognizes their responsibility and makes amends to the victim
21
Q
What is the Bureaucratic module?
A
- Aims for the efficient management of the case and the criminal in the system
22
Q
What are the stages of a criminal case?
A
- Pre-trial
- The trial
- After the trial
23
Q
What happens at the pre-trial stage?
A
- Reporting a crime
- Investigation (police, other investigative body)
- Charging (police, CPS)
24
Q
What happens at a trial?
A
- The courts and the plea
- The verdict (beyond a reasonable doubt)
- Sentencing
- Appeals (against the verdict or sentence)
25
What happens after the trial?
- Prison
- Rehabilitation
26
What happens during an investigation?
- Police powers are governed by the police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and codes of practice
- Main powers (stop and search, arrest and detain, to question, to enter and search premises)
27
What are the two types of bail?
1. Unconditional
2. Conditional
28
What are the two tests for the decision to prosecute set out by the Crown Prosecution Service?
1. Is there sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction?
2. Is prosecution in the public interest?
29
What are the statistics relating to ethnicity and justice?
- Black people are more likely to be stopped and searched in comparison to white people
- Black people are more likely to be arrested in comparison to white people
30
What is a guilty plea?
- where the defendant pleads guilt, the only function for the court is to sentence
31
What is a non-guilty plea?
- where the defendant pleads not guilty, the court must hear evidence, reaching findings, determine guilt and sentence, if guilty
32
What are the principles and purposes of sentencing?
- Punishment of the offender
- Reduction of crime
- Reform and rehabilitation of offenders
- Protection of the public
- Making of reparation to persons affected
33
What is the principle of the youth justice system?
- Prevent offending or reoffending by persons under 18
- Welfare of the offender
34
What are the causes of backlog in the crown court?
- High number of 'ineffective trials' (listed trials that do not go ahead on the day scheduled
- Number of criminal law barristers and criminal law duty solicitors decreasing
- Hearings are taking longer due to the higher proportion of complex cases and more cases where the defendant pleads not guilty
- Measures taken by Government are not effectively bringing the number of outstanding cases down
35
What is the impact of the backlog in the Crown Court?
- Deterioration of victims’ mental wellbeing
- Defendants waiting a long time for trial
- Contributing to acute prison population pressures (the number of people in prison on remand, awaiting a trial or sentencing is at its highest level for at least 50 years)
