25 Oct Respond to the following: Select one of the model countries from the text. Compare and contrast two strengths and two weaknesses of its justice system against that of the United States’
Respond to the following:
Select one of the model countries from the text.
- Compare and contrast two strengths and two weaknesses of its justice system against that of the United States' justice system.
- Suggest one change to each country’s justice system that might improve on the weaknesses that you noted. Provide a rationale for your response.
Comparative Criminal Justice
5th Edition
Chapter 4: Six Model Nations
Adrianna Hughes
University of Scranton
Learning Objectives: Chapter 4
- Discuss the particular historical developments that may have had a major effect on the formation of criminal law and criminal justice administration in each model country
- Analyze contributing factors to the crime rates in each model country
- Identify the distinct approach to criminal justice each model nation exemplifies
- Understand the basic structures of the criminal justice systems in each model country
- Compare the unique crime problems in model countries with crime in the United States
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
England:
Overview
- England is the historical backbone of the Common Law Tradition
- Operates as a capitalist economy, with various forms of socialism
- Has a Unitary government: government power is centralized rather than being divided between states and a central government
- Opposite of United States
- Federalism- power divided between states and a central government
- Monarch- sole and absolute ruler of a country
- Such as King or Queen
- The influence of the monarchy in England has eroded
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
England:
Overview
- Major component of parliament- House of Commons
- The real leader of the country- Prime Minister
- The head of the political party that possesses a majority of seats in the House of Commons
- Advisor to the monarch and chairs of the cabinet
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
England:
Historical Development
- English bill of Rights
- Magna Charta
- The Petition of Rights
- Act of Settlement
- All pioneered a tradition of limited government
- Since rise of British Empire many legal changes have lead to the export of English law to the colonies
- Lead to legal pluralism- the mixing of more than one system of law within a particular country or region of a country
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
England:
Historical Development
- Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
- 12 person court
- Serves as court of last resort
- No written constitution
- However, has a strong constitutional tradition that has evolved over centuries
- Can be called “unwritten constitution”
- Includes charters, organic laws, traditions, and legal procedures.
- Organic laws- the laws of Parliament that describe the machinery of government
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
England:
Crime
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
- The Research and Statistics Department of the Home Office
- Collects crime stats in England: Police and data from the British Crime Survey(BCS)
- BCS believed to be more credible
- 4.2 % drop in overall crime from 2010-11 to 2011-12
- Crime issues: drug use and trafficking and hate crimes
England:
Criminal Law
- All crimes are either “arrestable” or “unarrestable” offenses
- Arrestable – indictable offenses that are punished by incarceration term
- Ex: manslaughter, murder, assault
- Unarrestable- “summary” – generally tried in magistrates courts
- Ex: drunk and disorderly conduct, loitering, most traffic offenses
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
England:
Criminal Justice System
- Lord Chancellor
- Appointed by Prime Minister
- Appoints all judges to the and supervises the court system in England
- Keeping order is a shared responsibility between national and local government
- The police and prison system fall under the Home Secretary
- CJ system is highly affected by decisions made in Parliament
- Ex: Criminal Justice and Police Act
- Changed how police were trained
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
England:
Compared to United States
- Common language
- Similar in governmental and cultural traditions
- Both encourage local administration and funding.
- Parallel crime rates- except for U.S. violent crime rate is much higher
- Both use get tough on crime policies
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
France:
Overview
- The French Republic is divided into 22 administrative regions
- Further divided into 96 provinces (one- prefect)
- Strong Economy- fertile farmland and highly developed industrial sector
- Major producer of Steel, chemicals, and nuclear energy
- Unitary State
- Written Constitution
- Republican Government- president heads the government, but main power is in hands of citizens who vote for representatives
- Two house legislature- National Assembly( lower chamber) and Senate(upper chamber)
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
France:
Historical Development
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
- Defining moment in revolutionary period
- Asserted right to resist oppression, rights of liberty and equality, separation of powers
- Reign of Terror
- Ended by Napoleon Bonaparte
- Several Wars
- Five Republics
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
France:
Crime
- Directory of Justice Statistics
- Annuaire statistique de la justice
- Showed slight decrease in crime since 1990’s
- French National Monitoring Centre on Crime -show crime increase
- Crime Issues: drugs, immigration, terrorism, human trafficking
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
France:
Criminal Law
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
- Basic principles of criminal law found here
- Penal Code- distinguishes crimes based on their seriousness
- Misdemeanors( delit) violations (contraventions)
- Divided into 5 books: Book 1- general provisions; Book 2- describes crimes against persons; Book 3- describes crimes against property; Book 4- describes crimes against nation, government, and public order; Book 5- other crimes not found in preceding books
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
The Civil Law
Canon Law
Dealt with church and spiritual matters
Provisions regulating family life and morals
Commercial law- body of legislation that deals with the exchange of goods between cities or nations
The Napoleonic Code
Drawn up by legal experts and went into effect in 1804
Incorporated new ideas from the Enlightenment
German Code
Long, academic, and complex
Took 20 years to put together
Scholarly effort to study previous law, develop a philosophy of law, and provide a rational basis for legal development
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
The Importance of the French and German Civil Codes
- Influential in the development of law over the past two centuries
- Both codes were developed during a time of industrialization and expansion
- Imperialism was at its height fostering cross-national adaptation of laws and legal structure
- As new countries formed and old countries sought to modernize full codes of laws helped to simplify the process
- Unified civil codes were adapted to some degree according to local circumstances and local traditions
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
The Common Law
- More ancient and complex than French or German Codes
- History
- The King’s Court( England)
- Appointed judges traveled around country ruling on disputes that had not been settled in local courts
- Overtime a body of law developed that was based on the decisions of the judge’s of the King’s Court
- Established the importance of precedent
- Stare decisis- “it stands decided”
- Judicial Independence- judges bound by law rather than by desires of the ruler
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
France:
Criminal Justice System
- The Constitutional Counsel Court
- Reviews legislation proposed by the legislature, Prime Minister, or govt.
- The Council of State
- Supreme administrative court
- Leading advocate of citizen’s rights
- Supreme Court of Appeals- highest court
- Police: Police Nationale and Gendamerie
- Correctional Services- Under control of Ministry of Justice
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
France:
Compared to United States
- Both developed after a revolution
- Republican in style
- Written constitution
- France has centralized form of government
- Both use get tough on crime policies
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
Germany:
Overview & Historical Development
- Country is divided into 16 states( Lander)
- Federal Republic- power distributed between federal govt. and states
- Government- Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches
- Bicameral Legislature: lower house and principle chamber: Bundestag & Bundesrat
- Important Historical developments
- German Civil Code
- The Basic Law
- 146 articles- describes system of law- checks and balances
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
Germany:
Crime & Criminal Law
- Criminal Federal Police- collect crime statistics
- Crime Issues- drugs, immigration, ethnic violence
- Violent Crimes have risen
- German law is a combination of ordinances, statutes, and administrative rules
- Bundegesetz- federal statues
- Landegesetz- State laws( Lander)
- Criminal code distinguishes between felonies(Schwerverechen) and misdemeanors(Vergehen)
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
Germany:
Compared to United States
- Federal republic- distributes powers between state and federal governments
- Germany has a Civil Law tradition
- The Basic Law in Germany performs like the Constitution in the U.S.
- Crime rates have dropped- hate crimes have risen in Germany
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
China:
Overview and Historical Development
- Most populous nation and one of the world’s oldest civilizations
- Unitary, multinational, socialist country
- 23 provinces- 5 regions- 4 municipalities
- National People’s Congress (NPC)
- Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
- Various dynasties
- Influenced by Confucian thought
- Cultural Revolution
- Shift away from total acceptance of unwritten codes and informal social control mechanisms
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
China:
Crime and Criminal Law
- Provide Crime Data in 2 forms: China Statistical Yearbook and The China Law Yearbook
- “Strike Hard Campaigns”- (Yanda)
- Crime Issues: Illicit drugs. Corruption, human trafficking, civil unrest
- Criminal Law- 452 ( old law had192)
- Two sections:
- general – basic principles of application of law
- Special- chapters addressing 8 classes of offenses
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
China:
Criminal Justice System
- Four Components
- Police
- Ministry of Public Security
- Procuratorate
- Under Supreme People’s Procurate
- Courts
- Peoples Courts and Special People’s Courts
- Supreme People’s Court of China
- Highest court
- China also has an informal system of justice
- Social control mechanisms
- Corrections
- Ministry of Justice
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
China:
Compared to the United States
- Unitary Socialist Government- China
- All forms of government are subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party- china
- System of informal social control- china
- Crime has risen In China- keep in mind China does not keep record a number of common crimes
- Strike hard campaigns similar to get tough policies in U.S.
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
Current Event
- Read the following article and keep in mind China’s Criminal Justice and Political system.
- After reading the article, how would the proposed changes affect human rights in China? What would be the main differences from the existing procedures?
- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/world/asia/china-acts-to-give-defendants-greater-rights.html?pagewanted=all&_ r=0
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
Japan:
Overview and Historical Development
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
- Divided into 47 administrative divisions- prefectures
- 99%- of population are native Japanese
- American Influence due to World War II
- New constitution: 3 branches of government
- Legislative government- bicameral
- Executive Branch- Prime Minister, a cabinet, and a hereditary emperor
- Judicial Branch- headed by Supreme Court
- Constitutional monarchy
Japan:
Crime and Criminal Law
- Crime Rates- very low
- Crime Issues: Youth crime, Organized Crime, theft
- Organized Crime- “Boryokudan”- main reason for crime increases in recent years
- Many cultural reasons for low crime rate
- Japanese Criminal Code
- 1. Penal code
- Divided into 2 books- crimes divided into 3 categories: crimes against the state- crimes against individuals- crimes against society
- 2. code of criminal procedure
- 3. prison law
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
Japan:
Criminal Justice System
- Hybrid Criminal Justice System
- Corrections
- Ministry of Justice
- Police
- National Police Safety Commission
- National Police Agency
- Courts
- Hierarchical in nature
- Supreme court- highest appellate level court
- Emphasize use of mediation, compromise, and consensus in resolving disputes
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
Japan:
Compared to the United States
- Prime Minister is much like the President in U.S.
- Japan has a Unitary government
- Written Constitution
- Hierarchical court system
- Extensive criminal procedure laws
- Japan also borrows traditions from Civil Law countries
- Japan has a very low crime rate compared to U.S.
- Both use get tough policies
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
Current Event
- Watch the following clip and pay close attention to the political processes.
- What things from the clip are similar to the process of the United States? What things are different?
- http://www.cnn.com/video/#/ video/world/2012/12/26/zolbert-japan-new-pm.cnn
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
5th Edition
Saudi Arabia:
Overview and Historical Development
- Economy based primarily on Oil
- Welfare State- government plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well
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