Criminal Justice System in Australia Term Paper
Criminal justice system refers to a system of enforcement, which can either be, the bar, the judiciary, the corrections department and institutions, probation, or other government institutions aimed or geared towards through, deterring, prosecuting where necessary, defending the rule of law, sentencing, and alleviating crime and even sanctioning those who violate the law with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.
The accused have rights that have to be adhered to, by the authorities, the authorities are divided into 3:
- The police,
- The courts,
- The corrections include jails, prisons, paroles and probation.
The police are mostly mandated with investigations and and order, the courts constitute, judges, prosecutors and the defense attorney, the main role are to form avenues in which disputes are settled and justice administered, while the corrections come in mostly when the accused has been found guilty and their main role is to rehabilitate which may include punishments.
There have been fears that the criminal justice system in Australia is not as strong as it should be considering there have been lapses when dealing with gender, social class, and even racial matters.
The criminal justice system is constituted into the :
- The federal criminal justice system,
- The state system.
The difference between the two is the judicial coverage where just like the United States of America, the administration of law is carried out by the relevant state and territorial police services who also have legislative powers on matters that dont infringe on the commonwealth of Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia is composed of six states, both the state and the commonwealth systems of government are consistent with the liberal democratic tradition supposedly derived from British Westminster system and North America constitution (Australia Travel Search, 2008).
The the government powers and clearly defines the by the legislative, executive, and judicial arms of the commonwealth government.