Juvenile Justice in U.S., U.K., France and Germany

Juvenile Justice in U.S., U.K., France and Germany

Introduction

A “juvenile offender” or a “juvenile delinquent” is any criminal who has not yet attained the legal age of his or her country of residence. They are also known as young offenders. Juvenile Justice Systems are the laws, processes, acts, standards and personnel involved in ensuring justice to the youth of a country.

Juvenile justice systems in most of the countries worldwide stress upon the importance of educating children and of catering to the roots of the problems which cause such criminal offenses. They also have strategies for prevention, social integration, and rehabilitation.

This paper aims to compare the various legal systems, official sources of collecting crime data, duration of problem persistence and sentencing for juvenile offenders in four major countries: USA, England, France and Germany (Abraham, 1993).

Discussion

United States

Legal System

The United States of America have a criminal justice system which is being followed at both state and federal levels. The historic roots of English law from which the common law of USA has evolved are quite evident at each of these levels. Even though largely and popularly labeled as incorporating a system of common law, the processes and methods and gist of US criminal cases are increasingly following the civil law system. The principle of “state decisis” is implemented in the U.S. courts. American judges have a significant role in dispensing justice, since they are not just responsible for providing judgmental solutions to cases, but they also play an active role in the creation of various laws and acts, which are used for reference in future cases by other judges as well (Empey et al., 1982).

Crime Data Sources

The official source responsible for providing data and statistics related to criminal offenses, including those of juvenile offenders in USA is the FBO (Federal Bureau of Investigation). The FBI is a state organization, part of the Justice Department of America. Not only does it investigate crime, but it also plays the central role of the official state intelligence agency of the country. They release reports called “Uniform Crime Reports” yearly. Various other reports analyze the extent of prevalence of hate crimes and the existing state of law within the country. People also refer to the definitions of the FBI regarding various legal terms. Besides the FBI, surveys to gather data related to victims of crimes are also conducted by Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Criminal Justice Administration

The administration of justice to criminals, victims, and the society by large is done by all the participants of the criminal justice process. The administration of justice is done in a court which serves as the main venue where justice is served. The people involved within the process hold critical significance, regardless of whether they are professionals or not. These personnel involved within the process include the defense attorney, the prosecutor, and the judge. The judge is either appointed or elected and is well-versed in the applicable and currently practiced laws of the country and the legal system ...