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 crime control model: crime is a threat to people’s freedom and so the goal of the crime control model is the suppression of crime, it prioritises catching + punishing offenders, deterring + preventing them from committing further crime
• the crime control model: the model starts from a presumption of guilt, it trusts the police to be able to identify those who are probably guilty through their investigations and interrogations
• the crime control model: police should be free from unnecessary legal technicalities that prevent them investigating crime
• the crime control model: once the ‘probably guilty’ are identified, it favours a conveyor belt or assembly line justice system that speedily prosecutes, convicts and punishes them
• the crime control model: it 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
• the crime control model: it emphasises the rights of society and victims to be protected from crime, rather than the rights of suspects
• the due process model: the power of the state is the greatest threat to the individual’s freedom and so the goal of the due process model is to protect the accused from oppression by the state and its agents, these include the police, prosecutors and judges
• the due process model: the model starts from a presumption of innocence, the accused is innocent until proven guilty after a fair trial
• the due process model: it has less faith in the police’s ability to conduct satisfactory investigations
• the due process model: incompetence, dishonesty etc. mean that suspects’ and defendants’ rights need to be safeguarded by a set of due process rules that investigations and trials must follow, these include rules about arrest, questioning, legal representation, admissibility and disclosure of evidence, cross-examination of witnesses, no secret trials etc.
• the due process model: rather than a convayor belt carrying the accused swiftly to punishment, the rules and procedures protecting their rights form a necessary obstacle course that prosecutors have to overcome before they can secure a conviction
• the due process model: this means that the guilty sometimes go free on a ‘technicalitiy’ (e.g. where the prosecution have relied on illegally obtained evidence), however the model argues that this is a lesser evil than convicting the innocent
• the due process model: the model emphasises the rights of the accused individual rather than those of the victim or society
• 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
• right realism: the crime control model is a right-wig, conservative approach to justice and it has much in common w/ right realist theories of crime e.g. like 0 tolerance policing strategies, it favours giving the police greater powers to investigate and suppress crime
• functionalism: the crime control model also has links w/ Durkheim’s functionalist theory that punishment reinforces society’s moral boundaries, as the main function of the justice is to punish the guilty, this enables society to express its moral outrage and strengthen social cohesion
• labelling theory: the due process model is a liberal approach, it atims to stop state agencies like the police from oppressing people
• labelling theory: as such it has links to labelling theory the police may be tempted to act illegally, harassing groups that they label negatively as ‘typical criminals’
• labelling theory: the due process model offers some protection against this because it requires the police to follow lawful procedures and not exceed their powers
• left realism: argues that oppressive ‘militaristic policing’ of poor areas triggers confrontations and makes residents unwilling to assist the police
• left realism: in the left realist view, police must follow due process by acting in a lawful and non-discriminatory way if they want to fight crime effectively, since this depends on the cooperation of the community
• 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
• rules favouring due process: the suspect’s right to know why they are being arrested
• rules favouring due process: the right to remain silent when questioned by police + in court - based on the principle that it is the prosecutions job to prove guilt not the accused’s job to prove their innocence
• rules favouring due process: the right not to be detained indefinately w/o charge
• rules favouring due process: the right to legal representation when questioned by police and in court
• rules favouring due process: the right to trial by a jury of one’s peers
• rules favouring due process: the right to appeal against conviction or sentence
• rules favouring due process: the right not to be re-tried for the same offence once aquitted
• rules favouring due process: rules governing the admissibility of evidence in court e.g. hearsay, entrapment and forced confessions are not admitted
• rules favouring due process: the prosecution has a duty to disclose evidence against the defendant in advance of the trial