Aims of the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

INTRODUCTION This chapter considers the purposes, aims, and values of a criminal justice system and the controversy surrounding each of its terms: system, justice, and criminal. It describes the agencies that form the justice system and the passage of cases through it. Central to the criminal process is the exercise of discretion by police officers, prosecutors, defence attorneys, judicial officers, probation officers, and community and institutional correctional staff. As important are the roles of ordinary citizens in reporting crime, working with officials, and participating in the process. Ordinary citizens and justice system workers have strong beliefs on what a criminal justice system should try to achieve. These debates are reviewed, and models of the criminal process are described. Major theories of punishment and their changing popularity across two centuries are also discussed.