1.3

• Crime control model

  The goal is the suppression of crime, prioritises catching and punishing offenders, deterring and preventing them from committing further crime
• Crime control model

  • Starts from a presumption of guilt
  • Trusts the police to be able to identify those who are probably guilty through their investigations and interrogations
  • Favours a conveyer belt or assembly line justice system, that speedily prosecutes, convicts and punishes them
  • Argues that if a few innocent people are occasionally convicted by mistake, this is a price worth paying for convicting a large number of guilty people
  • Emphasises the rights of society and victims be protected from crime, rather than the rights of suspects
• Due process model

  The goal is to protect the accused from oppression by the state and its agents, including the police, prosecutors and judges
• Due process model

  • Starts from a presumption of innocence
  • The accused is innocent until proven guilty after a fair trial
  • Has less faith in the police's ability to conduct satisfactory investigations
  • Requires a set of due process rules that investigations and trials must follow, forming a necessary obstacle course that prosecutors have to overcome before they can secure a conviction
  • Emphasises rights of the accused individual rather than those of the victim or society
• Rules governing the working of the justice system in England and Wales

  • Crime control:
  • The polices' right to stop, question, search and arrest. The right to stop and search without giving evidence in some circumstances
  • The court may draw negative inferences (conclusions) if the defendant remains silent when questioned by police or fails to testify in court without good reason
  • Extended police detention is allowed for questioning on suspicion of indictable offences (36 + 96 hours) and terrorist offences (14 days)
  • Restrictions on the availability of legal aid
  • Jury trials are only for serious cases, magistrates are more likely to convict than juries
  • Juryless trials are allowed if jury tampering is suspected
  • Change to the double jeopardy rule allows a second prosecution if 'new and compelling' evidence emerges (for serious offences only)
  • Evidence of bad character/previous convictions is permitted in certain circumstances
  • Public interest immunity certificates may allow the prosecution to avoid disclosing evidence

  Due Process:

  • The suspect's right to know why they are being arrested
  • The right to remain silent when questioned by the police and in court – based on the assumption that it is the prosecution's job to prove guilt, not the accused's job to prove their innocence
  • The right to legal representation when questioned by police and in court
  • The right to a trial by a jury of one's peers
  • The right to appeal against conviction or sentence
  • The right not to be re-tried for the same offence once acquitted
  • Rules governing the admissibility of evidence in court, e.g. hearsay, entrapment and forced confessions are not admitted
  • The prosecution has a duty to disclose evidence against the defendant in advance of the trial
• We can see from above how different rules of the justice system might support each of the two models
• In most cases, police, prosecutors and judges respect the due process rights of the accused and follow correct procedure
• There have also been miscarriages of justice as a result of the police, prosecution or judges failing to follow correct procedures and, in some cases, even breaking the law themselves
• Cases pointing to the justice system not always operating according to the principles of the due process model

  • Colin Stagg - victim of attempted entrapment
  • Sally Clark - wrongly convicted of murdering her two baby sons
  • The Birmingham Six - wrongly convicted of 21 murders after the police fabricated evidence against them
  • The case of Bingham Justice - involved bias by a magistrate