GLOBAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Global Criminal Justice

[Institute's Name]Global Criminal Justice

The criminal justice of United Kingdom

The goal of the United Kingdom criminal justice system is to ensure public safety by protecting the population against those who break the law. To this end, the system establishes what types of behaviour are unacceptable and determines the nature and severity of penalties imposed for an offense. These penalties include, among others, the fine, restitution to the victim, probation, community service and imprisonment (Global Criminology and Criminal Justice 2001, 58).

In addition, protective measures will ensure that every accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and is entitled to assistance of counsel and a fair trial. The Criminal Code of United Kingdom combined with other legislation such as the Law on the Criminal Justice System Youth Act, the Corrections and Conditional Release and the United Kingdom Charter of Rights and Freedoms establishes the principles underpinning the criminal justice system. This, as opposed to people who are responsible for making their own hands, provides an impartial response to crime.

The main functions of the criminal justice system:

the investigation;

the indictment;

the prosecution;

the determination of guilt or innocence;

the sentencing;

Administration of the sentence.

Operation of the criminal justice system

The criminal justice system has four interrelated components that work together to protect society from the commission of a crime until the reintegration of the offender. They are:

The police;

The courts;

Corrections;

Parole.

Each is governed by legislation specific to its role in the criminal justice system, but they all have the potential to affect each other. For example, police reports can influence the sentence imposed by the judge thereof, in turn, will affect the offender's incarceration, and the reports and evaluations of correctional staff can influence the decision take the body of parole.

The police

This component of the system is federal, provincial and territorial governments and municipalities. At the federal level, the Royal United Kingdom Mounted Police (RCMP) is the application of the law. At the provincial or territorial, the RCMP, which acts in the provinces and territories where it provides services under contract or, as in Ontario and Quebec, the provincial police. At the municipal level, the local police department is responsible for law enforcement.

The primary mandate of the police to apprehend offenders and, in most provinces, to lay charges against them under the Criminal Code (Cavadino 2006, 40). The police are the frontline of the criminal justice system of United Kingdom.

The courts

Once the charges, it is the Crown prosecutor to decide what charges may be subject to prosecution and to initiate proceedings against the accused. If there trial, the judge or, in a limited number of cases, the jury decides whether the accused is guilty of the charges against him. When a jury returns a guilty verdict, it is the judge decides what sentence to impose (Crawford 2011, 96).

In sentencing, the judge must consider the maximum and minimum sentences established by the Criminal Code or, if the offender is aged 12 to 17, the provisions of the Act on the criminal justice system for adolescents. The United Kingdom Charter of Rights and Freedoms can also affect the judge's decision (for example, evidence may be declared ineligible if the elements of that ...