Applied Criminology: An Analysis of the Criminal Justice System

This report delves into the realm of applied criminology, providing a detailed analysis of the criminal justice system (CJS). It begins by defining the CJS and its core components: law enforcement, courts, and corrections. The paper identifies key agencies within the CJS, including police forces, the Crown...Read More

Running head: APPLIED CRIMINOLOGY
Applied Criminology
Name of the student
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APPLIED CRIMINOLOGY
According to Friedmann (2016) the Criminal Justice System (CJS) is the process which
includes institutions and practices of the government which are directed towards social control,
mitigating, deterring and controlling crime, ensuing fairness and imposing sanctions upon those
who have violated legal provisions through penalties and rehabilitation. Those who are accused
of having being committed a crime are also entitled to certain protection under law through
which they are protected against the abuse of prosecution and investigatory powers. There are
three main parts of a criminal justice system which is law enforcement (Investigation and
enforcement agencies like police), courts (judges or attorneys) and corrections (probation and
parole, jails and prison). All three of three of these agencies operate hand in hand in relation to
the system of criminal justice with respect to the rule of law and maintaining such rule in the
society. The paper is in relation to applied criminology which helps to understand the practical
implications in relation to the criminal justice system (Pakes 2017).
The primary purpose of this paper is to identify the major agencies which are present in
relation to the process of criminal justice and the legislative powers of such agencies. The paper
also purports to throw light upon the major responsibilities and functions of the agencies along
with the relationship which they have with each other. In doing so the paper provides a
discussion in relation to the process of criminal justice with initiating form the point of arrest
going via conviction till the sentencing of the person. For the purpose of doing so the offender
who has been selected is a lower class mate who is 40 years of age having no disability or
religious belief and is heterosexual and belongs to a white race. The paper also ensures that the
issues in relation to equality and diversity with respect to the process are addressed throughout
the discussion.

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The component of criminal justice establishes a system when their functions are applied
in compliance of each other seeking to achieve the general objective of establishing the rule of
law in the society. Although the agencies of CJS work for the purpose of achieving the same
objective they work in different sectors in a different way. The divisions of the agencies in CJS
can be initially done into three areas which are law enforcement agencies, courts and the
correctional centers. Each of the divisions have their own agencies which work differently for
the purpose of achieving the same objective. The initial agency which is involved in relation to
the CJS is that of the police (Surette 2014). The police can be further divided into local
branches, national police and specialist agencies like the Health and Safety Executive the
primary focus of which is to emphasize on particular kinds of actions. The crown prosecution
services is a public prosecuting agency the primary purpose of which is to carry out criminal
proceedings in the country. The courts which are further subdivided into higher courts and
lower courts where the lower courts have magistrates’ courts and higher courts have crown
courts. The prison services which are provided the responsibility of dealing with sentenced and
convicted offenders who have been sent to custody and have a dual role of prevention and
rectification in relation to the criminals. The probation services who provide after care to the
prisoners’ who come out of the prison. The social working agencies which ensure rights of the
criminals not to be subjected to abuse are protected (Braswell, McCarthy and McCarthy 2017).
The police in England and Wales are set out through statue law and the primary source of
the powers of police is the Police Act 1996 and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
There are several general powers which have been provided to constables and other police
officers which is not possessed by general public. These powers include the power of detaining
an individual with respect to an offence, the power to “stop and search” vehicles or people in

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relation to suspicion of offence, the power of arresting people in case off minor offences without
a warrant and the power of diverting the conduct of a vehicle and person on highways as well as
other public places. These powers are imposed with several limits in relation to allowing the
public to be peacefully work in the society. These powers have to be used by the police when
they have a clear reason as to why they have to use their power. Such reason has to be also
notified to the person who is being arrested or detained. On limited basis powers to stop and
search can be extended such as under ss.44-47 of the Terrorism Act 2000 or s.60 of the
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Once the process of arrest has been complied
with and the person has been arrested the police gas the right to search the property of the person
without requiring any warrant so that they can collect evidence required to justify the arrest. The
primary source of powers in relation to police in the UK are provided under the Police Act 1996
covering powers of jurisdiction under section 30, attestation under section 29, and a few other
matters. Police Reform Act 2002 gives powers to the police community support officer or a
community support officer. The powers of the police can be further subdivided into Detention
(without arrest, after arrest and after charge), Search without Warrant, Arrest without Warrant,
powers of entry and other powers like road checks and Removal of disguises (Wood and
MacManus 2017).
All form of criminal cases in UK initiate in the magistrate courts which are heard by
magistrates or a district judge. The primary rules which govern the powers provided to the courts
are The Criminal Procedure Rules and Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.
Summary offences such as motoring offences, disorderly and drunk offences and minor criminal
damages are dealt with by the courts. The magistrate courts also have the power to deal with
offences like drug and burglary offences. These offences are known as either way offences

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which can be dealt with by the crown courts and the magistrate courts. The magistrate has the
right to keep the alleged offender on custody or to grant them bail. The magistrates’ grants bail
under the criminal procedure rules if the offender does not cause any unacceptable risks. Where
there are unacceptable risk and bail conditions are not able to address them, the offenders cannot
be provided with a bail. The Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 provides that the magistrate court
can make an order to put a person in prison up to a period of 6 months or 12 months in case of
combined offence, a fine of up to £5,000 or a community sentence. The crown courts deal with
more serious offences and their powers are governed by the provisions of Courts Act 2003. This
is the highest court of criminal cases for first instance in England and Whales. The court also
hears appeals for the magistrate courts. The court had been established through the Courts Act
1971 (Siegel and Worrall 2018).
The Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 and the Crown Prosecution Service
Inspectorate Act 2000 are the primary legislations which deal with the powers of Crown
Prosecution Service in UK. The primary responsibilities which have been imposed in such
agencies is that of giving legal advice to the police and the other investigative agencies with
respect to criminal investigation towards deciding whether the suspect may face criminal charges
off not after the investigation has been conducted and also to carry out persecution to the crown
or the magistrate courts. The work of the CPS is supervised by the Attorney General for
England and Wales and he is made responsible in relation to such work to the parliament. The
attorney however has no say in relation to the way of prosecutions other than when security of
the nation is at stake or for offences which needs the permission of the attorney for prosecution
(Vogler 2017).

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The prison services exclusively deal with offenders who have been sentenced and
convicted to custodial sentences. The role which they have been provided under the criminal
justice is to carry out a judicial decision through which an offender is deprived the liberty so that
the sentence of the court can be fulfilled. They have a distinctive role as it is majorly directed for
the purpose of managing and controlling the behavior of the offender during the sentence. In
common to the other agencies in relation to the criminal justice the prison services facilitate
crime control and ensure offender rehabilitation in the society. The Prison Rules 1999 and the
Prison Act 1952 provides powers to such agencies to functions. The agencies have every power
in relation to their protectorate which is provided to them including applying of force to control
the individuals. However their powers are limited under the rules of Human Rights Act 1998 as
well as Criminal Justice Act 2003. Others agencies which also operate in the criminal justice
system are that of social work agencies and the probation services. The Ministry of Justice
governs the functioning of HM Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) (Bandes, 2016).
This section of the paper will provide a discussion in relation to the major responsibilities
and functions of the agencies along with the relationship which they have with each other. The
component of criminal justice establishes a system when their functions are applied in
compliance of each other seeking to achieve the general objective of establishing the rule of law
in the society. Although the agencies of CJS work for the purpose of achieving the same
objective they work in different sectors in a different way. There divisions of the agencies in CJS
can be initially done into three areas which are law enforcement agencies, courts and the
correctional centers. Each of the divisions has their own agencies which work differently for the
purpose of achieving the same objective. The CJS is the collection of agencies which have been
created to deal with criminals (Tomsen 2017). There is a distance in relation to the connection

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between the agencies in the CJS. This difference brings failures and benefits into the system. The
job which the courts have in relation to the enforcing justice and the nature of the courts in the
society makes them an authority to regulate the working of the police officers as well as the
correctional officers. From the perspective of police officer crime is very different as compare to
the perspective of a judge as they see the entire situation form a different point of view. This
ensures in the system that the police officers as well as correctional officers will fulfill their
obligations in accordance to the rule of law. The primary responsibility of the police is to ensure
the maintenance of law and order in the society, conduct investigation and bring the alleged
offender to the court where it can be decided that the offender has committed the crime or not.
For the purpose of fulfilling their opportunities the police have been provided with the powers as
discussed above in relation to search, arrest and detention. The distance between the components
of CJS is created naturally as they have to address different issues towards attaining the goals.
Even if they do not perform similar functions they require support from each other as connected
to the same purpose. The court is required by the police to take care and process the suspects
when they have been put to custody. In the same way correctional officers are required by the
courts to govern inmates who have been sentenced by the courts (Travis and Edwards 2015).
It has been argued by Newbury-Birch (2016) that the agencies in CJS generally are not
able to coordinate their activities and thus ignore impact which their decision may have in
relation to the other agencies. The relationship which the components have is mostly not fluent
and this may result in mistakes and make the total process slower which would affect its
effectiveness. The major responsibilities of the courts are to ensure that they abide by the rules of
interpretation and apply the law correctly to the facts to come to a decision. They cannot act
beyond their jurisdictions and the scope of law which they have been subjected to. They cannot

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make laws and it is their duty to apply the intention of the parliament depicted through
legislations and regulations. The people who make the law and who apply the law are also
subjected to the same law and thus a balance between powers is created. It has been argued by
Geyer (2016) that the distance which is present between the courts, police and the corrections in
actually required. This is because own polices are set by the agencies in the CJS which may have
a considerable impact on the procedures and timings of the other agencies. The presence of
different processes in relation to the agencies makes them ensure and guarantee that they are
doing their work in a proper manner. Where the police officers have not acted in a legal manner
the courts will not accept a case and the correction officers would not be required at all. The
courts at the same time are required to guarantee that the total process is done in accordance to
law while sentencing the suspect (Tilley and Sidebottom 2017).
When the 40 year old man in context has been first arrested he is initially subjected to the
agencies of police. When the police are dealing with him they have to consider various traits of
the person such as race, age, sexuality and religion. They have to take into consideration laws
pertaining to human rights and discrimination. They must abide by the provisions of Criminal
Justice Act 1991 to ensure that they do not abuse the powers provided to them under law in
relation to arrests and investigation. The CPS will evaluate the case presented by the police and
advice them that whether they have a valid case or not. In relation to carrying out such functions
the CPS will also have the duty to abide by human rights and anti discrimination laws. He
should be produced by the police to the courts by taking into account all such laws. These laws
also include the laws in relation to arrest, detention and investigation as discussed above. The
responsibility of the judges and magistrate will initiate when he has been brought before the
court by the police. They will now have the obligation to consider the case presented by the

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police officers in relation to the man in the light of the legal provisions available to address the
situation. Only if the court is satisfied that the police have a string case will it admit the case and
start legal proceedings. The court may grant bail if the situation allows so under the criminal
procedures rules. If in the initial hearing the courts come to a finding that the person has actually
committed the crime they will put the person in police custody. By time the case continues in the
court the man will come in connection with the prosecutors who would argue the case against
him on the basis of evidence (Vogler 2017). Where the courts are satisfied that all evidence
which have been attained is lawfully and the law states in the situation that the person should be
prosecuted the court will sentence the person to prison. If the offence is a minor offence it would
be dealt with by the magistrate court and if it is a serious offence it would be considered by the
Crown court. Where the situation is such that a sentence has been provided the responsibility
would be passed to the correction or prison officers. The officers would again be under the rule
of law and would have to ensure that no form of discrimination is done in relation to the person.
It is the responsibility of the correction officer to create a healthy and a safe culture in the prison
by maintaining equality amidst diversity. The officer would have the power to do anything with
respect to controlling such person in the prison (Moriarty 2017).
For the above discussion it can be concluded that there are various agencies which
operate in relation to the criminal justice system. The divisions of the agencies in CJS can be
initially done into three areas which are law enforcement agencies, courts and the correctional
centers. Each of the divisions has their own agencies which work differently for the purpose of
achieving the same objective. These agencies are namely the police, the Crown Prosecution
Services, the courts, the correction officers and the parole officers. Although the agencies of CJS
work for the purpose of achieving the same objective they work in different sectors in a different

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way. There divisions of the agencies in CJS can be initially done into three areas which are law
enforcement agencies, courts and the correctional centers. Each of the divisions has their own
agencies which work differently for the purpose of achieving the same objective. The CJS is the
collection of agencies which have been created to deal with criminals. There is a distance in
relation to the connection between the agencies in the CJS. This difference brings failures and
benefits into the system. The job which the courts have in relation to the enforcing justice and the
nature of the courts in the society makes them an authority to regulate the working of the police
officers as well as the correctional officers. When the 40 year old man in context has been first
arrested he is initially subjected to the agencies of police, followed by the courts and the prison.
When the agencies are dealing with him they have to consider various traits of the person such as
race, age, sexuality and religion. They have to take into consideration laws pertaining to human
rights and discrimination. They must abide by the provisions of respective legislations which
giver their actions to ensure that they do not abuse the powers provided to them under law in
relation to arrests and investigation.

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References
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Francis.
Friedmann, R.R., 2016. Criminal Justice System. The Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment.
Geyer, F., 2016. Security versus justice?: police and judicial cooperation in the European
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Moriarty, L.J., 2017. Criminal justice technology in the 21st century. Charles C Thomas
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Newbury-Birch, D., McGovern, R., Birch, J., O'Neill, G., Kaner, H., Sondhi, A. and Lynch, K.,
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