Posted: August 26th, 2022

United Kingdom and United States Criminal Justice System

United Kingdom and United States Criminal Justice System
You will need to choose a country to compare to the United States. You will need to compare policing, laws, courts, and corrections. You may pick any country that interests you but I should be one in which you can find articles.

The paper should be APA format. This is an advanced elective and I expect your paper to reflect that. You will be graded on grammar, content, and reference page. The reference page is NOT included in the 3 pages that are required. If your paper is less than 3 pages, you will lose points.

Introduction
Reduction of crime remains to be a major priority for most nations around the world. Crime has a special role in society. Through its commission and perpetuation, society is able to identify what is moral, right and ethical away from aspects of socialization and interaction that are not advisable. As such, crime plays an important role in defining laws and the role of the criminal justice system and its agents. The role of criminal justice is identified to prioritize delivery of justice for all by aiming to convict and punish the guilty and assist them to stop offending, while maintaining protection of the innocent (Naeubauer and Fradella,2018). Nonetheless, different nations have different approaches to apprehension, prosecution, defending, sentencing and punishing people suspected of committing crime. Their modes of operation differ relative to the social, economic, cultural and political establishments in place. In this brief comparative analysis, research compares the criminal justice system and its agents in the UK against that of the US.
Policing
Just like in the US where police departments are decentralized and localized, policing in the UK is also divided into several smaller Units. Research indicates that police in the UK is divided into 47 forces, across 43 territories across England and Wales. This also includes a national police force in both Scotland and Northern Ireland and an additional 2 specialized forces that is CNC (Civil Nuclear Constabulary) and the British Transport Police. Much of the difference comes, when evaluating how both forces apply the rule of law.
Policing in the United States takes on a more aggressive stance. Pollock (2014) identifies that since the 9/11 attack policing in the US has gradually shifted from civil service to crime fighting. This in turn has seen police apply force and become more aggressive in how they carry out their duties and in the types of equipment they use. Research indicates that American police force is more military style oriented, and in use of tactics (The Week, 2020). This is in response to the dynamic world in which they work. In the US, unlike the UK guns and gun ownership is legal, which implies greater levels of unpredictability and uncertainty in law enforcement perspective. The Week (2020) identifies that through empirical research crisis intervention and de escalation in policing within America seems to be an afterthought during training and application of work. On the contrary, in the UK police utilize space and time to reduce threat. The result is lower deaths and controversial incidents of police brutality.
Laws and Courts
Majority of US common laws were inspired in part by its former colonial master, Britain. They evolved and were further influenced through British traditions that were increasingly widespread in North America during the 17th and 18th centuries (Segal and Mansa, 2020). Just like the US has different states, the U.K’s main sub-division includes England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland and they all have their own laws, court systems and bar association. In the US Federal district court decision take precedence over all other courts, also serious crimes are presided over in federal courts (Syam, 2020). In the UK Crown Courts preside over more serious criminal and civil cases. A major difference between the US and UK courts, is the fact that in UK courts there are special tribunals created to handle special cases.
In the US these special cases have their own courts such as the Bankruptcy court etc. Jury duty in the UK is randomly selected, while in the US it is pre-selected and agreed upon by both sides of the council (Neubauer and Fradella, 2018). Similarly, powers that are not granted to the federal government (US) or national government in the UK are instead reserved to the divisions and states in the UK and US respectively. Laws are formulated by two national and federal bodies. In the US these two bodies include the Senate and the House of Parliament. In the UK, they entail the lower and upper houses of parliament (commons and house of Lords). Laws are mainly enforced by the police and other national and local agencies, most of which are similar in both countries. The role of the judiciary is also to preside over cases and interpret the law. In the UK, minor infringement cases are tackled by lower courts defined as magistrate courts. These are state courts in the US (Syam, 2020). In both systems, courts rely on past judicial opinions as authoritative precedent during trials and other forms of litigation. Sentencing in the UK is presided over by a bench of magistrate, or district judge or a judge in crown court. But just like the US sentencing considers the crime and its seriousness, the persons prior criminal record, their character and time in consideration to a plea deal (Syam, 2020). In both, sentencing is also informed by statutes and the particularity of an offence.
Corrections
Prison and incarceration rates in the US are considerably worse than the UK. Prison Policy (2020) identifies that the population of UK prison is approximately 500,000 which is at least five times lower than the US Department of Corrections. Wagner and Sawyer (2018) identifies that per 100,000 population UK jails 138 on average compared to US’ 698. In both countries, there are both privatized and public prisons. One major difference between the UK and US prisons is that in the UK HM Chief, supervises and conducts mandatory searches and evaluation into the privatized prisons the same way they preside over public prisons (Prison Policy, 2020). While the average offender in the UK gets approximately 18 months in prison, in the US, the average offenders span 4-5 years within prison cells. The last executions, as a form of punishment in UK prisons, took place in 1964 and were abolished by the Murder Act of 1965 (Prison Policy, 2020). The US, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia are still some of the countries practising capital punishment through death and executions.
Conclusion
UK and US criminal justice systems are similar apart from a few aspects. This is because the US system was inspired by the UK, it being its colonial master in the past. The Crown and Supreme Court in both reside over all other courts. Policing in the US is centered on crime fighting as such, and has a more aggressive approach, contrary to the community centered police force in the UK. Prison systems in the US are much harsher and more crowded than the UK, with people serving longer sentences on average in the US.

References
Neubauer, D., & Fradella, H. (2018). America’s courts and the criminal justice system. CENGAGE.
Pollock, J. (2014). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice. Toronto: Nelson.
Prison Policy. (2020). Public Opinion. Retrieved 29 November 2020, from https://www.prisonpolicy.org/research/public_opinion/
Segal, & Mansa. (2020). Common Law Definition. Retrieved 29 November 2020, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/common-law.asp
Syam, P. (2020). Major Differences Between the US and UK Legal Systems – Blog | @WashULaw. Retrieved 29 November 2020, from https://onlinelaw.wustl.edu/blog/differences-between-us-and-uk-legal-systems/
The Week. (2020). What are the differences between British and US police tactics?. Retrieved 29 November 2020, from https://www.theweek.co.uk/107187/american-british-police-tactics-difference
Wagner, P., & Sawyer, W. (2018). States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2020, from https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2018.html