Class VIII – Social Science

Ch 31 – UNDERSTANDING OUR SYSTEM OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE (QA)

A. Tick the correct choice among the following:

1) (d) 2) (b) 3) (c) 4) (d) 5) (b)

B. Tick -mark the following statements as True or False:

1) True 2) False 3) False 4) False 5) True

C. Answer these questions: (Please note that we are only doing following questions in this section)

Q1. What are criminal cases? Give two examples.

Ans: The cases that deal with wrongs done against the community as a whole are called criminal cases. Examples are murder, criminal
conspiracy.

Q2. What are civil cases? Give two examples.

Ans: The cases that are considered about private rights are called civil cases. Examples are trespass, matrimonial cases.

Q3. What is the role of the police in criminal cases?

Ans: The role of the police in criminal cases is to investigate any complaint about the commission of a crime. An investigation includes
recording statements of witnesses and collecting different kinds of evidence. Police personnel together with other related systems
of the criminal justice system make serious efforts in the direction of maintaining law and order and serving the people.

Q4. What is the role of a Public Prosecutor?

Ans: A public prosecutor represents the state or the people of the state in a criminal trial. It is because a crime is considered a crime
against the entire society. A public prosecutor has to act impartially while examining facts and witnesses. He has to present his
arguments based on the evidences before the court. The public prosecutor holds an important place and a number of court
judgments have called him a ‘minister of justice’.

Q5. What is the need of the defence lawyer in a criminal case?

Ans: Defence lawyer has an important role to play in the system of criminal justice. Without his presence, no trial can be called a fair
trial. According to Article 22 of the Constitution, every person has a fundamental right to be defended by a lawyer. The defence
lawyer acts as a savior of the accused. He gets a copy of the charge sheet and statements of the witnesses. It is his duty to see that
the trial is held in the presence of the accused. He presents strong evidences which may defend his client and prove his innocence
and set him free.

Q6. What is an FIR? What are Supreme Court’s directions on this?

Ans: The First Information Report is the information that a police officer receives about the commission of the crime. It is the report of
information that reaches the police first in point of time and that is why it is called the First Information Report. It is with the
registration of an FIR that the police can begin their investigations into a crime. The FIR usually mentions the date, time and place of
the offence, details the basic facts of the offence, including a description of the events.

Directives of the Supreme Court on FIR: The directives laid down by the Supreme Court on FIR are as follows:
 An FIR must be filed as soon as the information about an offence is received.
 Before beginning the investigation, the concerned police officer should make an inference from the facts mentioned in the FIR
that an offence has been committed.
 An FIR can be registered at a police station even if the scene of crime does not fall in its territorial jurisdiction. However, the FIR
should be forwarded to the concerned police station as soon as possible.