The basic formation of the criminal justice system comprises of law enforcement, courts and correction. However, the pivotal role of the Criminal Justice System is to deter and investigate crime.
A criminal justice system is the backbone to the law and order of a society. Therefore,
a strong, impartial and accountable criminal justice system, which protects the human rights of accused and victims, rich and poor, young and old alike, is the cornerstone of a just and impartial society.
The criminal justice system implemented decades ago to control the lower classes of society. Throughout the years, this system had improved to accommodate different classes, those of different status or groups of society. This implementation extends equality across all the society.
The criminal justice system is a crucial part of our society and we know that comprehensive, effective, and nondiscriminatory implementation of criminal justice system powers is essential to ending violence, both for freeing individual and for ending the worldwide epidemic of violence against one another in this human race.
According to Goldsmith, ‘the criminal justice system has served two purposes. The first is instrumental or utilitarian: the state responds to crime to secure benefits to the wider society such as crime prevention and crime reduction. A second is symbolic or non utilitarian: the state must redress imbalances caused by those people who take illegal advantage of another or diminish their human dignity’ (Goldsmith, 2006, pg 266).
The need for a criminal justice system
The public knows that the police cannot prevent every crime, nor apprehend every criminal. However, they expect a criminal justice system, which is reliable, effective, and respected. It must deal with cases efficiently; fight crime in each state and each town in this country. Thus, the society needs criminal justices system to protect, to deter and to prevent crime. Obviously, the idea of having a system is to ensure fairness and equality throughout a social setting.
The criminal justice system is a system that requires management by different organisations accordingly. This system consists of the police, courts and corrections. Each organisation takes responsibility of and facilitates different parts of the system to set rules or to procedures laid down by the government according to the needs of the society.
The criminal justice system is designed for a coherent administrative system for offenders. Without the threat of a punishment for wrong doing, the crime level in a society would be high. This threat that comprises of a functioning criminal justice system is a healthy threat as it brings about social order. The trauma of going through a high and complex criminal justice system turns people away from a causative culture to one of wrong doings. Punishments for crimes serve as a deterrent to criminals.
The goals of the previous criminal justice systems were mainly action based (e.g. apprehending offenders, punishing offenders and etc.). In the present era, our criminal justice system seems to be focusing on education for the public regarding crime and rehabilitation of offenders. This method is implemented to deter offenders or prevent crime from spreading. It emphasises on protecting the citizens and maintaining peace and order.
The development in the criminal justice system.
Criminal justice system expenditure
Government expenditure by sector, 2004-05
Emergency Management 3%
Housing 4%
Justice 9%
Community services 16%
Education 37%
Reference 1: Note: Data for 2004-05 were not available for all services. Community service expenditure excludes juvenile justice
SOURCE: Australian Institute of Criminology 2006. Expenditure on justice by Australian governments. Crime facts info no. 117, 28 February.
From the data above, we can see how the criminal justice system has changed to meet and prioritise needs in different areas. This proves that the system is no longer re-active but pro-active by preventing crime through education to the community before a misdemeanour occurs. Education also serves the purpose of informing the citizens of a standard or code in the society of what is acceptable and what is not in their community.
The health expenditure that comes second of all the other sectors seems to indicate that there is a high need for health services for people who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. Issues such as intoxication and suicide are no longer looked at solely as a crime where offenders are arrested and put through the magistrate court the very next day but as an illness of an individual that requires medical attention. This method has significantly reduced the number of offenders being put on trial and convicted which contribute to the prison populations in the country. It is also provides a better management of individual health needs as intoxicated people need rehabilitation and suicidal people need medical attention instead of being punished for their illness.
Another area that is addressed in the chart is community services. These services are access by both victims and offenders of crime before, during and after going through the criminal justice system. These services include health, housing, financial services, legal, education, etc. The community services are a crucial arm of the criminal justice system. This is because the police, courts and corrective services duties only focus on controlling crime and reinforcing law compared to community services that provide the additional support needed by the victims, offenders, individuals and the families who are affected.
The system has seen to the recent change in form of punishments from prison terms to parole, community services and probations. These sentences seem to benefit the community and the offenders. For example if a juvenile is sentenced to help clean up the walls he or she vandalised, the juvenile would learn not to do it again and the community would benefit from that clean up exercise. This method has also reduced the cost of crime that has taken its toll on society. There is no need to build more prisons to house every single offender and more so when it is a small offense.
Composition of government expenditure on criminal justice, 2003-04
Corrective Services 22%
Police Services 72%
Criminal Courts administration 6%
Reference 2: Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision 2004. Report on government services, volume 1: education, justice, emergency management.
At a quick glance, this pie chart reflects the composition of expenditure on the criminal justice system. The police are the forefront in the criminal justice system. They are the ones going out to address and redress the social problems in the community. With that said, the government is aware of the need to allocate the bulk of cost in police service. The police objectives have drastically advanced to not just ‘policing’ but ‘community policing’(Graycar, pg 65-67). Community policing focuses on the community where the focus is on maintaining the order and protecting the society. By allocating the bulk of expenditure towards the police services, the police will be able to function effectively in providing services to the community such as creating public awareness or neighborhood watch and etc. to prevent crime and protect citizens.
Conclusion
The purpose of the Criminal Justice System is to deliver justice for all, by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent. It is responsible for detecting crime and bringing it to justice; and carrying out the orders of court, such as collecting fines, and supervising community and custodial punishment.
The key goals for criminal justice are to help reduce crime by bringing more offences to justice, and to raise public confidence. Together with other partners, the criminal justice system works to prevent crime from happening in the first place, to meet the wider needs of victims, and to help turn offenders away from crime.
As a result, in the absence of a criminal justices system there would be chaos in crime control and management. Thus, maintenance of the system is crucial. This would not only provide a coherent administrative system but promote the importance of social order and crime control.
References
- Goldsmith, A.,
- Graycar, A. and Grabosky, P. (eds), (2002) The Cambridge Handbook of Australian Criminology.
- White, R. and Perrone, S. (2005) 2nd edition, Crime and Social Control: An Introduction.
- Sheley, J (2000), Criminology (3rd Edition),
- Felkenes, G. (1973), The Criminal Justice System,
- Hale, C.D. (1994). Police Patrol: Operations and Management (2nd Edition).
- Cook C., Creyke R.,
- Sales, B. (1977), The Criminal Justice System Volume 1,
- Australian Institute of Criminal Justice, http://www.aic.gov.au/stats/cjs/expenditure.html, viewed 17 March 2007
- Office of Justice Programs, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov, viewed 17 March 2007
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