Interviewing the Suspect: Key Considerations

2021 ◽  
pp. 461-518
Author(s):  
Eric Shepherd ◽  
Andy Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Case Material ◽  
Legal Advice ◽  
Front End ◽  
Legal Adviser ◽  
Key Issues

This chapter explores the key issues relevant to the interview of any suspect. It begins with legal advice, explaining the role and objectives of the legal adviser to allow one to understand their behaviour and work with them as fellow professionals working at the “front end” of the criminal justice system. The chapter also considers the key tasks of interview planning, in particular information disclosure both prior to and during an interview, and practical preparation prior to meeting the suspect. It then investigates the legal safeguard of the caution and other pre-questioning issues. Ultimately, the chapter examines the presentation of case material to the suspect, bad character questioning, and how to tackle omission and anomaly by conducting a FAIR review, before closing — appropriately — with how to end the interview.

Are Elderly Felons Treated More Leniently by the Criminal Justice System?

1988 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 275-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Wilbanks
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Arrest Rates ◽  
Front End

California Offender Based Transaction System (O.B.T.S.) data are utilized to examine the processing of all elderly felons ( N = 1,562) compared to felons twenty to fifty-nine ( N = 160,413) to determine if elderly felons “get off easier.” Elderly criminals were treated more harshly at the front end of the criminal justice system (through conviction) and more leniently at sentencing. The apparent leniency at sentencing was not found for all offenses examined and thus the overall pattern of leniency was due to the mix of offenses for which the elderly were convicted. Though age was a better predictor of arrest rates than sex or race, the latter two variables were better predictors of processing by the criminal justice system.

scholarly journals The Evidentiary Rules of Engagement in the War against Domestic Violence

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin R. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Mandatory Arrest ◽  
Front End ◽  
The People ◽  
Evidence Rules ◽  
Criminal Justice Response

Our criminal justice system promises defendants a fair and just adjudication of guilt, regardless of the character of the alleged offense. Yet, from mandatory arrest to "no-drop" prosecution policies, the system's front-end response to domestic violence reflects the belief that it differs from other crimes in ways that permit or require the adaptation of criminal justice response mechanisms. Although scholars debate whether these differential responses are effective or normatively sound, the scholarship leaves untouched the presumption that, once the adjudicatory phase is underway, the system treats domestic violence offenses like any other crime.This Article reveals that this presumption is false. It demonstrates that many jurisdictions have adopted specialized evidence rules that authorize admission of highly persuasive evidence of guilt in domestic violence prosecutions that would be inadmissible in other criminal cases. These jurisdictions unmoor evidence rules from their justificatory principles to accommodate the same iteration of domestic violence exceptionalism that underlies specialized front-end criminal justice policies. The Article argues that even though such evidentiary manipulation may be effective in securing convictions, enlisting different evidence rules in our war on domestic violence is unfair to defendants charged with such offenses and undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system. It also harms some of the people the system seeks to protect by both reducing the efficacy of the criminal justice intervention and discrediting those complainants who do not support prosecution.

Forensic science as “risky business”: identifying key risk factors in the forensic process from crime scene to court

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 195-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Julian ◽  
Sally F. Kelty
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Forensic Science ◽  
Justice System ◽  
First Responders ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Systemic Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Front End

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss key risk factors in the use of forensic science in the criminal justice system by adopting a holistic and systemic approach that examines the collection and use of forensic evidence from crime scene to court. Design/methodology/approach – The research on which the paper is based was a mixed-method five-year study of the effectiveness of forensic science in the criminal justice system in Australia using qualitative and quantitative methods. The paper draws on the in-depth analysis of qualitative data from 11 case studies of investigations of serious crime to identify key risk factors in the use of forensic science from crime scene to court. Findings – Six key risk factors in the forensic process from crime scene to court are identified: low level of forensic awareness among first responders; crime scene examiners (CSEs) as technicians rather than professionals; inefficient and/or ineffective laboratory processes; limited forensic literacy among key actors in the criminal justice system; poor communication between key actors in the criminal justice system; and, financial resources not directed at the front end of the forensic process. Overall the findings demonstrate that forensic science is not well embedded in the criminal justice system. Practical implications – The paper suggests that the risks inherent in the current practice of forensic science in the criminal justice system can be reduced dramatically through: forensic awareness training among first responders; the professionalisation of CSEs; continued improvements in efficiency and effectiveness at the laboratory with a focus on timeliness and quality; greater forensic literacy among actors in the criminal justice system; appropriate avenues of communication between agencies, practitioners and policymakers in the criminal justice system; and increased allocation of resources to the front end of the forensic process. Originality/value – By adopting a holistic, systemic approach to the analysis of forensic science in the criminal justice system, and identifying inherent risks in the system, this paper contributes to the emerging body of research on the social processes that impact on the effectiveness of forensic science.

Crime and Criminal Behavior

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret E. Severson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Key Issues

This entry includes contemporary definitions of crime, theoretical ideas about the etiology of criminal behavior, and information about the methods used to estimate crime rates in the United States. The focus of this entry is on adult prisoners. Key issues such as disproportionate minority incarceration, the acceleration in the number of women entering into the criminal justice system over the last 20 years, and the prevalence of persons with mental illnesses in the nation's jails and prisons are addressed. Current controversies and practices such as risk reduction efforts and rehabilitation strategies are described.

11. Transformation or transition? The English legal system in flux

2021 ◽  
pp. 320-330
Author(s):  
Martin Partington
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Legal Advice ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

The final chapter of this book reflects further on how the legal system has changed and will continue to develop going forwards. The dramatic changes that have been made over the past 20+ years are grouped under two broad headings: modernization and austerity. Looking to the future, the immediate challenge is to finish the Transformation Programme and to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other issues include: dealing with the criminal justice system; increasing support for legal advice services; and improving public legal education. The chapter argues that lawyers should not fear change, but exploit the opportunities that arise.

The Jurisprudence Of The Sokoto State Administration Of Criminal Justice Law 2019: Innovative Provisions, Redlines And Suggestions For Future Reforms

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Abdullahi
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
Legal Advice ◽  
State Administration

This article appraises the jurisprudence, innovative provisions, redlines inherent in the Sokoto State Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2019 and make suggestions for future reforms. Sokoto State is one of States in Nigeria that has domesticated the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 (ACJA 2015) through the signing into law of the Sokoto State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2019 by his Excellency, the Executive Governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Mutawallen Sokoto) to take care of the problems of incessant delay in the criminal justice system. This article uses the doctrinal research methodology in gathering information’s and observes the need to look holistically at the issue of poor draftsmanship while provisions that runs counter to the Constitution should be addressed. The article recommended amongst others that the provisions relating to expeditious legal advice from the office of the Attorney General of Sokoto State and prohibition against lay prosecutions cannot be effective if the manpower at the Ministry of Justice is not improved upon and the welfare of the lawyers at the said Ministry is not taken care of. Barring the above, it is a new dawn for Sokoto State in the administration of Criminal Justice.

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