Assignment 3: International Crime Witness, Part 2
The defendant will primarily be accused of violence in the court. The defendant’s rights will therefore not be viewed differently by the court based on the status of the crime. The defendant will, therefore, be treated as innocent in the court’s proceeding until proven otherwise by the accuser (Hucklesby & Wahidin, 2013). In England, criminal defendants are entitled to several rights and the most significant one is the provision of protection by allowing the prosecution to provide reasonable justification for the conducted crime. The rights that are entitled to the defendant may include having a public trial, a jury trial, witness’s confrontation and the right of remaining silent during the question process with the provision of adequate representation (Hucklesby & Wahidin, 2013). In Britain, a crime that is subjected to an assault that involves violence will be directed to the proceedings that are classified by law. The court system in Britain is developed on the conception of private prosecution.
The system of justice is a mechanism that upholds its regulation of law, the courts, therefore, offers a forum where disputes can be resolved as well as offer examination and law enforcement in a justified and fairground (Hirschel, Wakefield & Sasse, 2007). I believe that one thing that should change about the court system in Britain is to ensure that the defendant is given a chance for a public prosecution instead of the whole idea being private. This will work in ensuring that there are fairness and efficiency in the judgments. In addition, this will provide the defendant with adequate opportunity to prove their stand and thus allowing the court to judge on their guiltiness. Public prosecution is a way of increasing transparency in the court system since this means that the outcome of the case will not mainly rely on the higher authority but the ability of each party in proving that they statements are true, factual and adequately justified. The correction system, on the other hand, should establish better ways of hosting the wrongdoers to ensure that they are corrected in a favorable environment. The current system is characterized by incarceration due to the high population of prisoners with inadequate facilities to host them. This condition affects the ability of the system in transforming the prisoners based on that the developed strategies are not grounded firmly. Punishment should also be objected on ensuring that it reforms the persons rather than ensuring that they pay for what they did. The punishment should, therefore, be a form of training that will help the prisoners in gaining beneficial skills that can be utilized in the future (Hirschel, Wakefield & Sasse, 2007).
The condition that the defendant is likely to face is poor living condition due to incarceration. In addition, he is bound to experience harshness in the punishment that he is to serve due to violence. Criminal assault is highly rejected in England and those that are involved in it are subjected to high sentencing accompanied by punishments (Mallicoat & Gardiner, 2013). The high incarceration is caused by the fact that most of the sentences in England even those that are considered to be minor in other states are regarded as unlawful crimes. In this regard, most of the offenders are normally sentenced for a particular period to ensure that their conduct is corrected. This, therefore, implies that the correction system is normally crowded with offenders who are there to serve their sentences and achieve transformation. This conduct, therefore, leads to poor conditions since the facilities are normally inadequate to handle the high population (Mallicoat & Gardiner, 2013). This is accompanied by harsh punishment that is targeted at transforming individuals which should be replaced by training programs. The correction, as well as punishment system in Britain, is similar to those of most of the states which are objected at reforming. In addition, the system is grounded on different policies and corruption, prisoner’s rights and the use of authority as the common ethical concerns in other states such as in America.
The criminal justice ethics scope is normally developed in a reduced forum to include a wider range of complex ethical issues that are experienced within the justice institutions such as courts, police stations and correctional institutions (May, 2008). Some of the ethical issues normally include the utilization of power policies, corruption as well as prisoners rights (May, 2008). There are some ethical issues that I observed with regard to both the courts and the correctional system of Britain. In regard to the court system, the primary issues that I observed are confidentiality and punitive policies. The policies that are objected at ensuring that appropriate punishments are given to the offenders should be reviewed. This is because the policies are not properly structured and designed to ensure that each crime is sentenced appropriately without being unfair. On the other hand, the ethical issues for the correctional system in the country are poor living conditions and unusual punishment. It is good to punish those that act against the law but correction implies being able to ensure that transformation is enhanced on their conduct. The correctional system offers cruel punishments to offenders which may change them by adding more bitterness to their existence rather than solving their issues (May, 2008). This may increase the probability of the offenders being involved in criminal acts in the future. In addition, poor conditions due to incarceration are another issue that should be addressed to ensure that the prisoners get a better setting for transformation.
References
Hirschel, J. D., Wakefield, W. O., & Sasse, S. (2007). Criminal justice in England and the United States. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Hucklesby, A., & Wahidin, A. (2013). Criminal justice. OUP Oxford.
Mallicoat, S. L., & Gardiner, C. (2013). Criminal justice policy. SAGE Publications.
May, D. C. (2008). Corrections and the criminal justice system. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Pub.
