The Criminal Justice does not stop moving
- Government policies/ structure
- The impact of funding/ changes
- Media reactions to events/cases
- Crime statistics and new data
- Academic commentary & research groups
- (Law Commission)
Correlation is not Causation
What is the CJS anyway?
We use this term to refer collectively to the various agencies which are concerned with upholding and enforcing the law.
The people on the ground?
Police officers, lawyers, judges, probation officers, prion officers, coroners… etc.
Core objectives and responsibilities:
➤ The creation of the law; defining boundaries between right and wrong
➤ The prevention and deterrence of criminal behaviour
➤ The investigation and detection of crime
➤ The gathering of evidence in connection with crimes
➤ Arresting, charging and prosecuting offenders
➤ Punishing those who are found guilty
➤ Delivering the sentences handed down by the Courts (e.g. imprisonment)
➤ Supporting offenders in their rehabilitation
The ‘CJS’
Our CJS – a useful barometer for the state of our State?
Measures ‘pressure’ and can be used to forecast short-term changes..
CJ & Criminal Law?
Building on our understanding of core principles of justice, and how they operate in practice (not just in theory)…
The presumption of innocence.
An individual should be considered innocent by the State unless, and until, they are proven guilty.
Christopher Jefferies (suspect, arrested December 2010)
Jo Yeates (murder victim)
Vincent Tabak (actual perpetrator, later convicted for Jo’s murder)
Defending Crime?
In Criminal Law, we look at the definitions of crime as per the current caselaw and legislation.
But how difficult is it to a) define a particular crime
and b) decide whether that behavior should in fact be criminalized?
Legally, a crime is any act or omission proscribed by the criminal law, which is therefore punishable by the State (carried
out through the CJS).
Massive spectrum of behaviour.
Murder; parking violations; being drunk and disorderly; genocide..
Put that PEn Back
Seemingly minor criminal acts?
- Government policies/ structure
- The impact of funding/ changes
- Media reactions to events/cases
- Crime statistics and new data
- Academic commentary & research groups
- (Law Commission)
Correlation is not Causation
What is the CJS anyway?
We use this term to refer collectively to the various agencies which are concerned with upholding and enforcing the law.
The people on the ground?
Police officers, lawyers, judges, probation officers, prion officers, coroners… etc.
Core objectives and responsibilities:
➤ The creation of the law; defining boundaries between right and wrong
➤ The prevention and deterrence of criminal behaviour
➤ The investigation and detection of crime
➤ The gathering of evidence in connection with crimes
➤ Arresting, charging and prosecuting offenders
➤ Punishing those who are found guilty
➤ Delivering the sentences handed down by the Courts (e.g. imprisonment)
➤ Supporting offenders in their rehabilitation
The ‘CJS’
Our CJS – a useful barometer for the state of our State?
Measures ‘pressure’ and can be used to forecast short-term changes..
CJ & Criminal Law?
Building on our understanding of core principles of justice, and how they operate in practice (not just in theory)…
The presumption of innocence.
An individual should be considered innocent by the State unless, and until, they are proven guilty.
Christopher Jefferies (suspect, arrested December 2010)
Jo Yeates (murder victim)
Vincent Tabak (actual perpetrator, later convicted for Jo’s murder)
Defending Crime?
In Criminal Law, we look at the definitions of crime as per the current caselaw and legislation.
But how difficult is it to a) define a particular crime
and b) decide whether that behavior should in fact be criminalized?
Legally, a crime is any act or omission proscribed by the criminal law, which is therefore punishable by the State (carried
out through the CJS).
Massive spectrum of behaviour.
Murder; parking violations; being drunk and disorderly; genocide..
Put that PEn Back
Seemingly minor criminal acts?
