CRIMINAL JUSTICE:

- System of practices and institutions directed at maintaining social controls, deterring and
mitigating crime and sanctioning those who break the law
- Objective: enforcing criminal/penal law
CRIMINAL LAW & CIVIL LAW
- Criminal law is concerned with dangerous or harmful behavior and acts. It is a legal system
that provides a specific definition of the different criminal activities and prescribes to them a
punishment.
- It must be prosecuted by the state.
- Civil Law is a set of rules that governs the transactions between individuals.
CRIMINAL LAW
To define an activity as a crime we need 4 elements:
- Capacity, conduct, responsibility and defenses.
- Other important principles are those of legality and presumption of innocence.
ACTORS IN A TRIAL
JUDGE: A public official with authority to hear cases and pass sentences in a court of
law. A public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice.
SOLICITOR, BARRISTER (UK), ATTORNEY (US), LAWYER: One of whose profession is to
give legal advice and assistance to clients and represent them in court or in other legal
matters.
PROSECUTOR, GENERAL ATTORNEY: A lawyer empowered to prosecute cases on
behalf of government and its people.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
- Complex organizations.
- Various stages for appeals: police malpractice, withholding of evidence, judge bias, faulty
forensic evidence, etc.
-In many cases we dont even reach a trial: short trial after guilty confessions or plea
bargaining (but this can force innocent people to confess a crime)
England and Wales:
-

Police Service
Crown Prosecution Service

Her Majestys Service

National Offender Management Service (comprising prisons and probation)
Youth Justice Board

UK:
Criminal justice also involves judges and magistrates, defense solicitors, local authorities, the
education system, the health sector and voluntary organizations (such as Victim Support).
Other stakeholders including Crime and Disorder, Reduction Partnerships (or Community
Safety Partnership in Wales) and the Legal Services Commission,