1.3✅

• in 1968 Herbert Packer, an American professor of law and criminology, described 2 constrasting sets of values which shape the way criminal justice system works, he sums these up in 2 opposed models of criminal justice system
• the 2 opposed models of criminal justice are: the crime control model of justice + the due process model of justice
• the 2 models of justice have links to difference theories of crime
• the crime control model links to the theories: right realism and functionalism
• the due process model links to the theories: labelling theory and left realism
• how far do the 2 models describe the system of justice in England and Wales? we can see examples of each model by looking at 2 areas = the rules governing the working of the justice system + the way the system works in practice
• rules governing the working of the justice system: there are many due process rules in place to protect the individual’s rights during an investigation and trial
• rules governing the working of the justice system: e.g. we saw that illegally obtained evidence may be ruled inadmissible in court, this includes things such as a confession obtained by using torture or degrading treatment
• rules governing the working of the justice system: this could be said to support the due process model since it protects the defendant’s rights
• rules governing the working of the justice system: however the judge has the power to admit illegally obtained evidence (e.g. evidence found during a search conducted w/o a warrant) if they believe it will help to establish the truth
• rules governing the working of the justice system: this could be said to support the crime control model, since it may lead to a conviction
• but we also need to look at how the system works in practice e.g. are the rules that protect suspects’ and defendants’ rights followed in reality in the police station and the courtroom ?
• it may be that in most cases, police, prosecutors and judges respect the due process rights of the accused and follow correct procedure
• e.g. only a small proportion of defendants who are convicted of an offence seek to appeal against either their conviction or their sentence which could indicate that most are reasonable satisfied w/ the way their case was processed by the justice system
• however there have also been miscarriages of justice as a result of the police, prosecution or judges failing to follow certain procedures and in some cases even breaching the law themselves
• miscarriages of justice: these cases point to the fact that in practice the justice system does not always operate according to the principles of the due process model
• miscarriages of justice: relevant cases include the following = Colin Stagg, Sally Clark, The Birmingham Six, The West Midlands Serious Crime Squad and The case of Bingham Justices
• Colin Stagg was a victim of attempted entrapment following the muder of Rachel Nickell, despite lacking any evidence against him the police became conviced that he was the killer and tried to use a ‘honey trap’ to trick him into confessing to the crime
• Sally Clark: was wrongly jailed for the murder of her 2 baby sons partly as a result of the Home Office pathologist and prosecution witness Alan Williams failing to disclose relevant information to her defence lawyers
• The Birmingham Six: they were wrongly convicted of 21 murders after police fabricated evidence against them, deprived them of sleep + food + used violence and threats to extract confessions
• The Birmingham Six: the judge wrongly deemed the confessions admissible as evidence while excluding defence evidence + the prosecution presented dubious and unrealiable forensic evience against the six
• the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad: was responsible for over 100 criminal cases (including the Birminggam Six) involving malpractice by its officers, including perjury (lying under oath) assulting prisoners, fabricating confessions and planting incriminating evidence on suspects
• the case of Bingham Justices: (1974) involved bias by a magistrate, when a defendant’s evidence contradicted that of a police officer in a speeding case the chairman of the magistrates said ‘My principle in such cases has always been to believe the police officer’
• in all the examples the cases either collapsed in court or guilty verdicts were quashed on appeal, however for some it took a seconds appeal resulting in longer in jail - 16 years for the Birmingham Six and 3 years for Sally Clark
• The crime control model:

  • crime is a threat to peoples freedom, this model aims to suppress crime 
  • they prioritise catching + punishing offenders, deterring + preventing them from committing more crimes 
  • presumption of guilt: guilty until proven innocence 
  • emphasises the rights of society + victims to be protected from crime 
  • they argue that even if a few innocent people are occasionally convicted on accident, it is worth it because they convict a large number of guilty people in the process 
• The due process model:

  • power of the state is the threat to peoples freedom, this model wants to protect the accused from oppression 
  • presumption of innocence: innocent until proven guilty 
  • emphasising the rights of the accused individuals instead of the victim or society 
  • guilty sometimes go free on ‘technicality’, although this is less evil than convicting the innocence 
  • less faith in the polices ability to conduct satisfactory investigations e.g. they are viewed as incompetent + dishonest at times 
• Links to theory: crime control model:

  • right realism: the crime control is a right wing, conservative approach to justice + has commonalities w/ the right realist theories of crime, e.g. the zero tolerance policing strategies as they favour giving the police greater powers to investigate + suppress crime
• Links to theory: due process model:

  • labelling theory: liberal approach, police may be tempted to act illegally, harassing groups that they label negatively as ‘typical criminals’, this model offers protection against this as it requires the police to follow lawful procedures
• Rules favouring due process:

  • suspects right to know why they are being arrested 
  • the right to remain silent when questioned by the police, its the prosecutions job to prove guilty emphasising that its not the accused job to prove their innocence 
  • the right not to be re-tried for the same offence once acquitted
  • the prosecution has a duty to disclose evidence against the defendant in advance of the trial 
• Rules favouring crime control:

  • police’s right to stop, question + arrest, the right to stop + search w/o giving a reason in some circumstances
  • evidence of bad character/previous convictions is permitted in certain circumstances 
  • extended period before access to a lawyer is allowed (used for serious offences)
  • jury trials are only for serious cases, magistrates are more likely than juries to convict, jury-less trials are allowed if jury tampering is suspected