Criminology

• Parliament creates legislation in the UK, which is the law that everyone has to follow
• Parliament is made up of 3 parts: The House of Commons, The House of Lords, and The Monarch (King/Queen)
• The House of Commons is the most important part of parliament and is made up of 650 members MPs
• The House of Lords is made up of members called peers, with 800 peers, including 92 hereditary peers, 26 Church of England bishops and archbishops, and life peers who cannot pass their position to their children
• The main job of the House of Lords is to act as a 'double check' on new laws
• The Government, formed by the political party with the majority of the 650 MPs, is responsible for running the country
• The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party
• Most proposals for new laws come from the Government in the form of a Bill
• Green Papers are the first drafts of Bills, aiming to provoke public discussion
• White Papers are detailed plans for legislation that include a draft version of the Bill intended for Parliament
• Parliamentary Stages:
• Consultation Stage: Government makes a draft of the Bill and asks for comments
• First Reading: The Bill's title is read out in the House of Commons or House of Lords
• Second Reading: Main debating stage where MPs or Lords discuss, ask questions, and vote on the Bill
• Committee Stage: A smaller group looks at the Bill in detail and may suggest changes called 'amendments'
• Report Stage: Amendments made during the Committee Stage are reported to everyone in either House for voting
• Third Reading: Final consideration of the Bill in either House with final votes to decide its fate
• Bill goes to the other house: The Bill goes back and forth between the Houses until an agreement is reached. If not, the House of Commons can pass the law without the House of Lords' agreement
• Royal Assent: The Monarch signs off the Bill as a new law or 'Act of Parliament'
• Royal Assent is the final stage of a law, where the Monarch signs the Bill into law, making it an Act of Parliament
• The new law comes into force immediately unless specified otherwise in a commencement order
• Herbet Packer proposed two contrasting models of criminal justice in 1968:
• Crime Control Model:

  • Views crime as a threat to people's freedom
  • Goal is to suppress crime by catching and punishing offenders quickly
  • Emphasis on the rights of society being protected from crime
  • Presumption of guilt
  • Conveyor belt justice system
• Due Process Model:

  • Emphasis on the rights of the suspect
  • Goal is to protect suspects from the oppression of the criminal justice system
  • Less faith in police abilities to conduct satisfactory investigations
  • Defendants have a right to be safeguarded by a set of due process rules
  • Protection of rights is a necessary obstacle
• The UK Justice system includes various agencies:
• Youth offending detention centre

  • Police
  • Courts: supreme, crown, CoA, magistrates
  • Probation
  • CPS
  • Prison
  • Government
• Main agencies involved in the criminal justice system are:

  • Parliament, judges, Home Office, Ministry of Justice for law creation
  • Police for enforcing criminal law
  • CPS for prosecution
  • HM Courts and tribunal service for court administration
  • HM Prison and Probation Services for overseeing sentences
• Aims of punishment include:
• Retribution:

  • Inflicting punishment on an offender as vengeance
  • Offenders should suffer consequences for their actions
  • Proportionality in punishment
  • Society expresses moral outrage through retribution
• Rehabilitation:

  • Aim to reform offenders' behavior to prevent reoffending
  • Includes anger management, drug treatment, education
  • Important for integrating offenders back into society
• Deterrence:

  • Uses fear of punishment to prevent crime
  • Individual deterrence convinces offenders not to reoffend
  • General deterrence aims to deter society as a whole
• Public Protection:

  • Incapacitates offenders to prevent further harm
  • Forms include imprisonment, curfews, electronic tags
  • Focuses on protecting the public from dangerous offenders
• Reparation:

  • Offender makes amends for wrongs done
  • Includes financial compensation, unpaid work, restorative justice
  • Restorative justice allows offenders to show genuine remorse
• Crime statistics can be misleading due to underreporting or selective reporting.
• Theories of crime are used to explain why people commit crimes.
• Criminal justice system is the process by which society responds to criminal behavior, including law enforcement, courts, corrections, and rehabilitation programs.
• Criminal Justice System (CJS) is responsible for enforcing laws and punishing criminals.
• Prosecution decides whether to charge an individual with a criminal offense based on police investigation findings.
• Aims of sentencing according to CJA 2003:

  • Punishment of offenders
  • Crime reduction
  • Changing offenders' behaviour
  • Protection of the public
  • Reparation to the victims
• Sentencing framework includes:

  • Imprisonment
  • Community sentences
  • Financial punishments
  • Discharges