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Title: Comparative Criminal Justice Systems


1
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
  • Dr. Mamdooh Abdelhameed (Ph.D., J.D)
  • Professor of Police Science Law

2
Chapter 1
An International Perspective
3
An International Perspective
  • Why Study the Legal System of Other Countries?
  • Provincial Benefits of an
    International Perspective .
  • Universal Benefits of an International
    Perspective .
  • The Influence Of The Countrys Statue In
    Criminal Justice System.
  • Historical Approach
  • Political Approach
  • Economy Approach .
  • Social Approach .
  • Geographic Approach.
  • Demographics Approach ?
  • Transportation Approach.
  • Communications Approach.
  • Comparison through Classification and descriptive
    .
  • The Need for Classification .
  • Classification Strategies .
  • Descriptive strategies.

4
Why Study the Legal System of Other Countries?
  • . The study of criminal justice in other
    countries has specific benefits for our own
    justice system as well as for international
    relations -
  • 1 ) Provincial Benefits of an International
    Perspective
  • 2 ) Universal Benefits of an International
    Perspective

5
1 ) Provincial Benefits of an International
Perspective
  • Because an International Perspective is still new
    in American Criminal Justice Curricula.
  • A comparative view allows us to understand
    better the dimension of our own system.
  • An International Perspective can furnish ideas to
    improve our system , a technique used in one
    country to combat crime might be successfully
    adapted for use in another country.
  • It is important to neighbor and multinational
    cooperation.

6
2 ) Universal Benefits of an International
Perspective
  • A global communications it is a small world .
  • In addition, an international perspective can
    suggest ideas to improve our system.
  • The presence and persistence of cross-national
    crimes including terrorism, hijacking, drug
    smuggling, and organized crime networks demand a
    cooperative international effort.
  • Such an effort is aided when citizens of
    different countries are familiar with, and try to
    understand and respect, the institutions and
    procedures of other countries.

7
Approaches to an International Perspective
  • There are at least three ways to study different
    criminal justice system -
  • 1) Historical Approach.
  • 2) Political Approach.
  • 3) Descriptive Approach.

8
1) Historical Approach.
  • What mistakes and successes have already occurred
    ?
  • What do earlier experiences tell us about the
    present?
  • How can knowledge of past prepare us for the
    future?

9
2) Political Approach.
  • How does politics affect a nations justice
    system?
  • How does politics affect interaction among
    nations?
  • How is a countrys legal tradition affected by
    politics?

10
3) Descriptive Approach.
  • How is countrys justice system supposed to
    operate?
  • What are the main components of a justice system?
  • Who are the main actors in a justice system?

11
The Influence Of The Countrys Statue In Criminal
Justice System
  • Political Statue ?

Social Statue
Economy Statue ?
Demographics Statue ?
Geographic Statue ?
Transportation Statue
Communications Statue
12
Demographics Statue
  • 1) the Ethnic Groups .
  • 2 ) Population
  • Population growth rate.
  • Life expectancy at birth.
  • Nationality.
  • 3 ) languages
  • How many ..

13
Geographic Statue
  • Location
  • Weather or Climate
  • Terrain
  • Natural resources

14
Economy Statue
  • Labor force
  • Labor force - by occupation
  • Industries
  • Industrial production growth rate
  • Currency
  • Exchange rates
  • Fiscal year

15
Political Statue
  • Government type
  • Capital
  • Administrative divisions
  • Legal system
  • Suffrage
  • Legislative branch
  • Judicial branch

16
Communications Statue
  • Telephones - main lines in use
  • Telephones - mobile cellular
  • Internet country code
  • Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
  • Internet users

17
Transportation Statue
  • Railways
  • Highways
  • Waterways
  • Ports and harbors
  • Airports
  • Heliports

18
Social statue
  • Customs and traditions.
  • Religion.
  • Literacy rate.
  • Poverty line.

19
Elements Of This Influence
  • 1 - Hiring
  • 2 - Working at some departments.
  • 3 - Prevent some people from working at
    criminal justice fields.
  • 4 - Lower level jobs
  • 5 - More interest in political crimes than
    social crimes.
  • 6 - Philosophy of police work .
  • 7 - Police organization system ( Centralized or
    decentralized ).
  • 8 - Various criminal justice departments .

20
Chapter 2
Crime, Transnational Crime, and Justice
21
Crime, Transnational Crime, and Justice
  • How do domestic crime and transnational crime
    differ?
  • What do comparative criminologists study?
  • What do comparative criminal justice scholars
    study?
  • What are the main problems when comparing crime
    data from two or more countries?
  • What are some examples of transnational crime?

22
How do domestic crime and transnational crime
differ?
  • The domestic crime and transnational crime ,count
    assuming they were reported and recorded .
  • Domestic crime and transnational crime provide
    the subject matter for the field of study known
    as comparative criminology.

23
COMPARATIVE CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
  • Comparative studies in crime and justice cover
    two areas -
  • First is the area of comparative
    criminology for which interest is in the study of
    crime as a social phenomenon (the focus is more
    on the crime) and as social behavior (the focus
    is more on the offender).
  • Second is comparative criminal
    justice with its interest in determining how
    various countries attempt to maintain social
    order and accomplish justice.

24
  • however, focuses on comparative criminology
    because
  • 1) a complete understanding of a countys
    criminal justice system must include an
    appreciation of the countrys domestic crime and
    criminals.
  • 2) the phenomenon of transnational crime propels
    much of todays multinational cooperation, it
    behooves comparative criminal justice to
    understand transnational crime and criminals.

25
FRIST COMPARATIVE CRIMINOLOGY LOOKS AT CRIME AS
A SOCIAL PHENONMENON
  • When comparative criminologists study crime as a
    social phenomenon, they try to identify
    commonalities and differences in crime patterns
    among divergent cultures.
  • Criminologists seeking to compare crime in two or
    more countries encounter two primary problems
  • The first is to ensure that crime
    data from different countries have been defined,
    reported, and recorded in a similar manner.
  • The second is compiling crime data in
    a manner that allows researchers to conveniently
    compare many different countries.

26
Comparing Similar Data
  • 1) In the absence of a universally agreed upon
    definitions of what constitutes a particular
    crime.
  • there is always the chance that data on
    a specific crime in two countries do not actually
    compare similar acts.

27
  • 2 ) Statistics are Political Statements
  • The open announcement of a countrys
    crime statistics is often only after the
    information has been rigorously checked for both
    its validity and for the impression it creates.
  • At times, countries have made crime data
    available to the United Nations survey but have
    not provided that information to their own
    citizens.

28
  • 3 ) Problems in Defining, Reporting, and
    Recording
  • Types of crime that seem comparable
    are often not (e.g., comparisons of homicide are
    confounded by how deaths from drunken driving are
    recorded).
  • Many crimes are not reported to the
    police.
  • Some events reported and recorded as
    crimes may not actually be crimes, and some
    crimes reported are never officially recorded.
  • Decisions to record crimes may be
    affected by concerns about job evaluation
    measures.

29
  • 4 ) Comparison Problems
  • The structure and number of police
    personnel varies among the countries.
  • Whereas some countries count crimes
    when the police become aware of them, others
    count crimes only when the police forward them
    for prosecution.

30
  • 5 ) Varying Social Features Affect Crime Rates
  • Countries where telephones are more
    common tend to report a higher proportion of
    crime.
  • Countries where household insurance
    is more developed report a higher proportion of
    crime.
  • Countries where police forces use
    more advanced technology tend to find a higher
    proportion of actual crime.
  • Countries with more available
    medical facilities may have lower homicide rates
    than countries with less accessible medical
    facilities.

31
  • 6 ) In addition to the problems presented by
    differences in legal definitions of crime,
    cross-national comparison of crime rates is
    hindered by the way crime is reported in
    countries.

32
  • 7 ) The willingness of victims to report crime is
    not the only factor affecting reporting rates.
  • Also important are factors such as accessibility
    to police so a report can be made
  • e.g.,
  • the number of police stations or telephones,
  • the level of insurance coverage available
  • the level of trust that the public has for its
    police
  • the greater the difference in social, economic,
    and political context between countries, it is to
    make any comparison of their crime rates. For
    example, different social norms.

33
The result of all of this
  • The result of all of this is that crime
    statistics probably tell us as much about a
    countrys justice organization as about its crime
    rate.

34
Using Data Sets to Facilitate Comparison
  • Several organizations are making available some
    key statistics on crime and justice in countries
    around the world.
  • Especially important data sets today are those
    provided by
  • Interpol,
  • the Council of Europe,
  • the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
    (UNDOC),
  • and United Nations Interregional Crime and
    Justice Research Institute (UNICRI).
  • the International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS),
    sponsored by UNICRI.

35
Crime and victimization data
  • The crime and victimization data available to
    comparative criminologists today provide a wealth
    of information.
  • As long as the necessary methodological cautions
    are understood and accounted for, scholars and
    practitioners will be able to compare crime
    occurrence, crime trends, victimizations, and
    other topics of importance for a more complete
    understanding of domestic crime.
  • As noted earlier, however, comparative
    criminology is also interested in advancing
    theoretical explanations of criminal behavior.
    Crime and victimization data are also necessary
    for that goal.

36
SecondComparative Criminology Looks at Crime as
Social Behavior
  • When looking at crime as social behavior,
    criminologists develop and test theories about
    crimes etiology that is, its causes, origins,
    and distribution.
  • Traditionally, those theories have been used to
    understand domestic crime in a particular
    country.
  • When theories about crime are developed and
    tested in or across two or more countries,
    criminology is more accurately called comparative
    criminology.

37
  • identify three general frameworks that are
    commonly employed as comparative criminologists
    attempt to explain the variation of crime rates
    among nations
  • grand theories,
  • structural theories,
  • theories relying on demographic characteristics.

38
  • The crime and victim data sets are designed to
    measure the occurrence and reporting of criminal
    acts within a particular country.
  • Comparative criminologists then use that
    information to identify similarities and
    differences in crime types and occurrence (i.e.,
    crime as a social phenomenon) or to extend our
    understanding of criminal behavior (i.e., crime
    as social behavior).
  • The twenty-first century brought a new,
    non-domestic, type of crime to intrigue and
    challenge criminologists. These transnational
    crimes are not confined to national borders but
    have impact across many nations.

39
Summary
  • Comparative criminology and comparative criminal
    justice are separated fields of study with
    overlapping interests.
  • This article focuses on comparative criminal
    justice and therefore it is especially interested
    in how the people and agencies in different
    countries go about accomplishing justice.
  • All justice systems operate in the context of
    those activities that a government has identified
    as criminal and those persons who engage in that
    behavior.
  • Criminology, more so than criminal justice,
    studies those crimes and criminals. Because
    criminology and criminal justice have some
    subject matter in common, it is appropriate for
    this comparative criminal justice article to par
    some attention to issues related to comparative
    criminology.

40
  • When comparative criminologists look at crime as
    a social phenomenon, they are trying to identify
    similarities and differences in crime patterns
    across countries.
  • They must be very careful when doing this because
    there are no universally agreed upon ways to
    define, report, and record crime.
  • However, with the cautious use of data sets that
    report crime and victimization rates from many
    countries, comparative criminologists are able to
    conduct research that can advance theoretical
    explanations for criminal behavior.
  • Examples of the explanations offered when
    comparative criminologists look at crime as
    social behavior are those categorized as grand
    theories.

41
  • Traditionally comparative criminologists have
    studied domestic crime patterns and behavior.
    The globalization of crime has brought an
    increased interest in crime that crosses national
    borders.
  • Comparative criminologists now find themselves
    studying such transnational crimes as money
    laundering, piracy, terrorism, and trafficking in
    persons.

42
Chapter 3
Perspective on Criminal Law
43
Perspective on Criminal Law
  • WHAT TO LOOK FOR
  • How are substantive criminal law and procedural
    criminal law different?
  • What are the general characteristics of the major
    principles of substantive law?
  • How do the crime control model and the due
    process model differ?
  • What impact has the war on terrorism had on
    issues of safety and liberty?

44
ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS OF JUSTICE SYTEMS
  • Two problems need resolving before any society
    can implement an institutionalized pattern of
    criminal justice.
  • 1) the laws must be delineated.
  • 2) the manner of enforcement must be
    specified.
  • The way a society revolves these problems
    involves the essential ingredients of any legal
    system.

45
  • An understanding of basic criminal law concepts
    is important for appreciating any countrys legal
    system.
  • The two essential ingredients to any justice
    system are substantive law and procedural law.

46
  • The former concerns the definition of rules,
    whereas the latter specifies their enforcement.
  • Substantive criminal law is made up of general
    characteristics that allow identification of some
    act as criminal and of major principles that
    determine whether a particular behavior is
    criminal.
  • Procedural criminal law is implemented through
    wither a crime control model or a due process
    mode

47
The Criminal Law
The Substantive Law
The Procedural Law
48
The Substantive Law
  • The first condition, requirements to qualify as a
    law, can be called the general characteristics of
    law.
  • The second condition, determining whether a
    particular behavior is criminal, comprises the
    major principles of law.

49
The Substantive Law
General Characteristics
Major Principles
  • mens rea
  • actus reus
  • concurrence
  • harm
  • causation
  • punishment
  • legality
  • Politically
  • Specificity
  • Uniformity
  • Penal sanction

50
the Procedural Law
  • Just as we can analyze two aspects of the
    definition of laws, we can also bifurcate the
    manner in which the rules are implemented.
  • The rules can be activated to emphasize
    repressing rule violation (crime control model)
    or to contain the systems level of intrusion in
    the citizens life (due process model).
  • As Packer (1968) presents those two models, they
    are less bound to specific legal systems than are
    the characteristics and principles of criminal
    law.
  • Therefore, the comments that follow about
    procedural law are applicable to a wider range of
    legal systems than is the following analysis of
    substantive law.

51
the Procedural Law
Crime Control Model
Due Process Model
52
1) Crime Control Model
  • 1 - Assumes freedom is so important that every
    effort must be made to repress crime.
  • 2 - Seeks to make decisions that will identify
    factual guilt.
  • 3 - Follows rules that emphasize the repression
    of criminal activity.
  • 4 - Emphasizes efficiency of action (i.e., speed
    and finality).
  • 5 - Requires a high rate of apprehension and
    conviction by early exclusion of those not likely
    to by guilty.

53
2) Due Process Model
  • 1 - Assumes freedom is so important that every
    effort must be made to ensure that government
    intrusion follows legal procedure.
  • 2 - Seeks to make decisions that will identify
    legal guilt.
  • 3 - Follows rules that emphasize containing the
    governments level of intrusion into citizens
    lives.
  • 4 - Emphasizes legitimacy of action.
  • 5 - Insists on a formal, adjudicative,
    adversarial fact-finding process, even though
    such restraints may keep the process from
    operating with maximal efficiency.

54
  • Each model seeks to guarantee social freedom.
    One does so by emphasizing efficient processing
    of wrongdoers, whereas the other emphasizes
    effective restrictions on government invasion in
    the citizens life.
  • The crime control model asks who is the greater
    threat to our freedom, the criminal trying to
    harm us or our property?
  • The due process model answers that government
    agents such as police officers and prosecutors
    are the threat.
  • Although each of these models seeks to ensure the
    social freedom of citizens, they emphasize
    different, and often conflicting, ways to achieve
    that goal.

55
Chapter 4
Legal Traditions
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