Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

Introduction

The criminal justice system is the state's legal apparatus for the use of public penal power. In brief, the criminal justice system is considered as the subsystem of the overall legal system of the state that is concerned with crime and punishment. The purpose of the criminal justice system is to secure social order on the territory of the state, by means of crime control through the threat and use of punishment. From this starting point, the basic justification for the systems' existence lies, paradigmatically, in the argument of its general preventive effect. At the same time the criminal justice system should secure criminal justice. In this regard, the criminal justice system is typically considered as rooted in the basic values of the democratic Rechtsstaat, of individual autonomy and equality and in the desire to avoid the abuse of power (both from the public institutions and from other individuals). In other words; the criminal justice system aims at both effective crime prevention and effective prevention of the abuse of public penal power. The precise relation between these central elements in the understanding of the criminal law does however vary (Bateman, 2007).

Criminal Justice System

A criminal justice system consists of the social and legal institutions that enforce the criminal law in confirmation to the defined procedures, limitations and rules. In the U.S, there are separate state, military and federal criminal justice systems. Each of the states has separate systems for juveniles and adults. This system also consist of subsystems which comprises of either one or more of the public institutions and their staff members which include police and agencies responsible for enforcing laws. The responsibility even lies on appellate and trial courts, public and prosecution defender offices; parole and probation agencies; custodial institutions and departments responsible for all the functions (Dantzker, 1998).

The key players of a criminal justice system comprise of both private and public actors such as private defense attorneys, bail bondsmen, defendants, private agencies who offers supervision, treatment or assistance to the criminals. It also provides assistance to the victims and officials that represent or assist the offenders. There are few agencies whose work includes the enforcement of the criminal law, for example, driver and bureaus for vehicle licensing; agencies responsible for allotting the taxation and the resources. Criminal justice system is the state's legal apparatus for the use of public exorbitant power. In brief, the criminal justice system is considered as the subsystem of the overall legal system of the state that is concerned with crime and punishment (Hakkanen, 2004). The purpose of the criminal justice system is to secure social order on the territory of the state, by means of crime control through the threat and use of punishment. From this starting point, the basic justification for the systems' existence lies, paradigmatically, in the argument of its general, deterrent effect. At the same time, the criminal justice system should secure criminal justice.

Criminal Justice Process

The process of criminal justice process is different among various states ...