Criminal Justice System Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Understanding The Criminal Justice System

• The Canadian Criminal Justice System (CJS) encompasses all agencies, organizations, and personnel involved in crime prevention and response. This includes individuals charged with crimes, convicted individuals, professionals in the CJS, and volunteers.
• The CJS involves crime prevention, suspect arrest and prosecution, court hearings, sentencing, and carrying out court orders, parole, and community supervision for ex-offenders.
• The chapter Learning Objectives include discussing the CJS purpose, roles and responsibilities of various levels of government, comparing criminal justice models, and the flow of cases in the CJS ("funnel"). Other objectives include analyzing discretion, task environments, ethics, accountability levels of personnel in the CJS, public confidence factors, and the concept of “politics of criminal justice.”, the deterrent value of the CJS and restorative justice.
• The CJS has objectives to ensure justice for all individuals involved, including victims, offenders and the community. Also included are respecting rights of victims and offenders, and ensuring safety and security of communities.
• A class/group discussion exercise explores the goals and values of the CJS, asking about reducing chances of convicting innocent, preventing crime, treating everyone fairly, and promoting trust in the CJS. The exercise also includes the importance of providing information on how tax dollars are spent, and transparency related to rules and guidelines.
• Different levels of government in Canada (federal and provincial/territorial) have defined roles in the CJS based on the Constitution Act of 1867. The federal government defines criminal offenses. Provincial/territorial governments are responsible for law enforcement and administering the justice system.
• Two competing models of criminal justice administration exist: the crime control model and the due process model. The crime control model emphasizes community protection and offender apprehension as paramount. The due process model prioritizes the legal rights of citizens, including suspects. A table outlining differences between the crime control model and due process model is included.
• The Canadian criminal justice system is adversarial. Defence lawyers and the prosecutor present cases in court before a neutral judge or jury. The standard of proof is "beyond a reasonable doubt."
• The flow of cases through the CJS is a funnel. Beginning with an incident, the cases progress through the police system, the criminal court system, and conclude in the corrections and parole system. Data points illustrating this flow are presented in figure 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3.
• The effectiveness of the CJS can be assessed through specific policies and programs, evaluation studies, and how well it adheres to the rule of law and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Studies suggest that a deterrent effect in the CJS exists depending on an awareness of legal sanctions for certain behaviors, certainty of punishment, and swiftness of sanctions.
• Restorative justice provides an alternative framework to responding to criminal offenders. It focuses on problem-solving, addressing victim and offender needs, involving communities, and designing sanctions for reducing re-offending. There are various entry points within the CJS for the use of restorative justice. A table summarizing the principles of retributive and restorative justices is included.
• The criminal justice system faces challenges in tasks environments across different cultural and geographic settings and communities. Personnel operate in potentially challenging conditions, are bound by law/policies, and exercise considerable discretion in their decision-making duties. This includes the freedom to choose in a variety of task environments which can be problematic.
• Public confidence and trust in the CJS are essential for its effectiveness. However, research suggests a moderate level of public confidence, and a lack of trust in the system for some segments of the population; many Canadians have difficulty understanding how the CJS works, and tend to overestimate crime and levels of violent crime.
• Public attitudes toward the CJS are often based upon news media portrayals, which may oversimplify complex issues or be biased towards more sensational crimes. -Unmet expectations about the CJS may lead to dependence on the system. Fear, more justice interventions, and the expectation that safety will be delivered, can influence how the system is used and perceived.