Compare and contrast the criminal justice systems within Britain, Europe and the United States

Criminal Justice Systems

This compares and contrasts the criminal justice systems in Britain , Europe and America . It elaborates on salient details of these criminal justice systems , points out similarities and differences between them , and assesses research done and statistical detail in to determine which of these is the most effective

The term `criminal justice system ' is broad and for this , the aspects of what makes it up need to be defined more clearly . According to Coretta Phillips , Gemma Cox and Ken Pease in the World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems (2006

, the following are some details which play a role in criminal justice : Classification of crime , crime statistics , victims and their roles and rights , the police prosecutorial and judicial processes , the judicial system , penalties and sentencing , and prison

With this knowledge in mind , let 's consider the British criminal justice system . Again citing Phillips , Cox and Pease , crime is classified by the British system in a variety of ways including the following Legal classification . While there are many ways of classifying crimes , they are distinguished by seriousness . Also , offenses may be classified according to the procedure by which a case is brought to trial (in a magistrates ' court only , by indictment , or triable-either-way in a magistrates ' or the higher Crown Court according to the availability of the sanction of imprisonment , or in terms of the Home Office 's Standard List of serious offenses . (Phillips , Cox and Pease , 2006

Consider also age of responsibility . Children between 10 and 17 are brought before a youth court when charged with a criminal offense (Phillips , Cox and Pease , 2006

The type of crime must be considered too

Is the British criminal justice system a successful one ? According to the 2000 British Crime Survey 69 are confident that the system respects the rights of the accused and treats them fairly , 46 are confident that it is effective in bringing people who commit crimes to justice , 34 are confident it deals with cases promptly and efficiently and 26 are confident it meets the needs of victims (Mirlees-Black 2006 . With only 46 confident that it brings criminals to justice must changes be made

In Examining Justice in the UK , an article by Chris Summers in Life of Crime , he raises the following : Rumblings of discontent with the British criminal justice system began to grow in the 1980s Campaigns started to spring up around individual cases . The phrase "miscarriage of justice " was crystallized around two big cases - the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four . Both stemmed from IRA outrages against civilian targets at the height of the bombing campaign

Police appeared to have quickly rounded up the suspects and brought them to justice . In reality the wrong men had been convicted . It was only due to the determination and investigative skills of a TV documentary team and MP Chris Mullin , himself a former journalist , that the injustice suffered by the Birmingham Six came to light ' This is clearly an injustice and would indicate that...