Topic 1.3 - Describe models of criminal justice Flashcards
Two models of criminal justice
What did Herbert Packer call the two models of criminal justice that he created in 1968?
The crime control model of justice and the due process model of justice
What are the six main aspects of the crime control model?
- Crime is a threat to people’s freedom and so the goal of this model is the suppression of crime
- The model starts from a presumption of guilt and it trusts the police to be able to identify those who are probably guilty through their investigations and interrogations
- Police should be free from unnecessary legal technicalities that prevent them from investigating crime
- Once the ‘probably guilty’ are identified, it favours a conveyor belt justice system that speedily prosecutes, convicts and punishes them
- It argues that if a few innocent people are occasionally convicted by mistake, this is a price worth paying for convicting a large number of guilty people
- It emphasises the rights of society and victims to be protected from crime, rather than the suspects of crime
What are the six main aspects of the due process model?
- The power of the state is the greatest threat to the individual’s freedom, thus the goal of the due process model is to protect the accused from oppression by the state and its agents eg the police, prosecutors and judges
- The model starts from a presumption of innocence. The accused is innocent until proven guilty after a fair trial
- It has less faith in the police’s ability to conduct satisfactory investigations with incompetence and dishonesty etc which means that suspects’ and defendants’ rights need to be safeguarded by a set of due process rules that investigations and trials must follow like rules about arrest, questioning and legal representation etc
- The rules and procedures protecting the individual’s rights form a obstacle course that prosecutors have to overcome before they can secure a conviction
- This means that the guilty sometimes go free on a ‘technicality’ - however, the model argues that this is a lesser evil than convicting the innocent
- The model emphasises the rights of the accused individuals rather than those of the victim or society
What two theories does the crime control model and theory link to?
Right realism - The crime control model is a right-wing, conservative approach to justice and it has much in common with right realist theories of crime eg like zero tolerance policing strategies which favours giving the police greater powers to investigate and suppress crime
Functionalism - This model has links with Durkheim’s functionalist theory that punishment reinforces society’s moral boundaries. As the main function of justice is to punish the guilty, this enables society to express its moral outrage and strengthen social cohesion
Who two theories does the due process model link to?
Labelling theory - This model is a liberal approach - aims to stop state agencies like the police from oppressing people, thus it has links to the labelling theory. The police may be tempted to act illegally, harassing groups that they label negatively as ‘typical criminals’. This model offers some protection against this because it requires the police to follow lawful procedures and not exceed their powers
Left realism - This argues that oppressive ‘militaristic policing’ of poor areas triggers confrontations and makes residents unwilling to assist the police - in the left realist view, the police must follow due process by acting in a lawful and non-discriminatory way if they want to fight crime effectively since this depends on the cooperation of the community
The two models and UK justice system
Rules governing the working of the justice system
Give an example of a due process rule that is used to protect the defendant’s right
Illegally obtained evidence may be ruled as inadmissible in court. This includes things such as a confession being obtained by using torture or degrading treatment - this could be said to support the due process model, since it protects the defendant’s rights
How can the due process rule (inadmissible evidence) be overruled? How would this support the crime control model?
The judge has the power to admit illegally obtained evidence if they believe it will help to establish the truth - could be said to support the crime control model, since it may lead to a conviction
Summarise 5 rules that favour the due process system in the English legal system
- The suspect’s right to know why they are being arrested
- The right not to be detained indefinitely without charge
- The right to trial by a jury of one’s peers
- The right to appeal against conviction or sentence
- The right not to be re-tried for the same offence once acquitted
Summarise 5 rules that favour the crime control model in the English legal system
- Police rights to stop, question, search and arrest. The right to stop and search without giving a reason in some circumstances
- Evidence of bad character/previous convictions is permitted in certain circumstances
- Public-interest immunity certificates may allow the prosecution to avoid disclosing evidence
- Appeal rights are not always automatic. Some are only allowed on a point of law, not of evidence
- Jury trials are only for serious cases. Magistrates are more likely than juries to convict. Juryless trials are allowed if jury tampering is suspected
What is there to suggest that that in most cases that due process rights of the accused are respected?
Only a small proportion of the defendants who are convicted of an offence seek to appeal against either their conviction or their sentence, which could indicate that most are reasonably satisfied with the way their case was processed by the justice system (police, prosecutors and judges)
Miscarriages of justice
What do miscarriages of justice highlight about the criminal justice system?
That the justice system does not always operate according to the principles of the due process model
How does the case of Colin Stagg illustrate miscarriages of justice?
Stagg was the victim of attempted entrapment following the murder of Rachel Nickell. Despite lacking any evidence against him, the police became convinced that he was the killer and tried to use a ‘honey trap’ to trick him into confessing to the crime
How does the case of Sally Clark illustrate miscarriages of justice?
Clark was wrongly jailed for the murder of her two baby sons partly as a result of the Home Office pathologist and prosecution witness Alan Williams failing to disclose relevant information to her defence lawyers
How does the case of the Birmingham Six illustrate miscarriages of justice?
The six were wrong convicted of 21 murders after police fabricated evidence against them, deprived them of sleep and food, and used violence and threats to extract confessions. The judge wrongly deemed the confessions admissible as evidence while excluding defence evidence, and the prosecution presented dubious and unreliable forensic evidence against the six
How does the case of Bingham Justices (1974) illustrate miscarriages of justice?
Involved bias by a magistrate. When a defendant’s evidence contradicted that of a police officer in a speeding case, the chairman of the magistrates said, ‘My principle in such cases has always been to believe the police officer’.
