Criminal justice refers to the process of administering justice to law offenders. It involves a committed offense, the police, and a court system that determines whether the offender is guilty or not and gives a ruling on the matter. Certain behaviors are unacceptable in a community. The legal system has developed to provide better and more good ways of administering justice (Ruesch, n.d.).
The criminal justice system differs from country to country depending on the laws. The United States criminal justice system is made up of an interconnection of several legal justice systems. The legal systems include the national, state, and particular jurisdictions (Beasley, 2015). The court system works on its allocation in the system. The network of the criminal justice system works together to administer justice in the country. Besides, the United State’s constitution renders guidelines on how justice is to be issued. The Central Criminal justice deals with cases within a national range. These cases include the manslaughter of most senior government representatives and treason. The nation-state criminal justices are responsible for crimes that involve the state (U.S. Criminal Justice System Overview, 2019). Special jurisdiction deals with crimes committed in that particular jurisdiction.
The criminal justice system has different components that work together to give a whole well-established system. The features include the police, the law enforcement department, the courts, and the corrections. When a crime is suspected of having been committed, law enforcement comes into action. The police receive an alert of the detected occurrence of a crime from a victim or witness; they verify the accuracy of the allegations and immediately start the investigations (U.S. Criminal Justice System Overview, 2019). The courts outline the administration of a crime committed. The corrections are used to hold in sentenced persons and persons awaiting trial.
The law enforcement process involves arresting the suspected person who committed the crime, then looking for evidence and preserving it to be used in law courts. The police responsibilities include maintaining law and order, protecting lives by conducting regular patrols in assigned areas, and conducting follow-up on criminal and traffic investigations, among others (Albanese). The police are obliged to respect the alleged offender’s rights, the victims, and the witnesses. The police must adhere to the laws stipulated by the Constitution during the arrest.
The national police function under definite government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation s(FBI), the Department of drugs, explosives, and the Bureau of homeland security. National police solitary deal with the matter of the federal government (U.S. Criminal Justice System Overview, 2019). The Federal Bureau of Investigation defends the population of the United States against terrorist attacks and fights against transnational and national criminal organizations. It also covers the country against foreign operations, cyber-attacks, and high technology crimes.
The state police are responsible for ensuring the state laws are followed. State police activities include regulating traffic on highways, maintaining peace and order in the states, and protecting the community (U.S. Criminal Justice System Overview, 2019). They save lives by enforcing laws governing speeding and distracted driving on the high. The federal police and the state police are expected to cover the constitution and abide by its rules.
The court system is divided into two main parts: the federal courts and state courts. The national court includes the supreme court of the US, which is responsible for national matters. The federal courts are presided over by a judge elected by the head of state selects with the consensus of the parliament.
The state law court has different structures, including trial courts, the appellate courts, and the highest court. Proceedings of a case in a court have several steps. Firstly, a pretrial is held where reports as the case are presented to a prosecutor. The Prosecutor can either open up a case or dismiss the claims. After a pretrial, an arraignment follows. Both sides, the offender and the defendant, are heard, each providing their proof. A penalty is imposed on the offender if found guilty by the judge. The offender can be penalized to death if the crime is dreadful as stipulated by the US Constitution.
Corrections systems refer to reform, rehabilitation, and corrections institutions that the offenders are transferred to after sentencing by the judge. The United States has correction units with different cells. A prison houses individuals who are serving sentences of more than a year. A jail provides temporary confinement to individuals who wait for trial or parole. Corrections in the US are managed by either the government or a private institution. (U.S. Criminal Justice System Overview, 2019).
The Legal System in China
China has a unitary criminal justice system. China’s legal system consists of a disciplinary unit, the police, and the law courts, where the Department of Justice heads correctional units. The highest people’s court is the highest court in China. China has a Marxist legal system. Marxist-Leninist Mao Zedong’s thoughts guide the present law’s principle.
Furthermore, the central unit of the police organization in the Republic of China is The Ministry of public security. Other agencies include the provincial public security department, prefectural public security department, county public security department, and local police stations. The local general security agencies are responsible for the public securities in their respective localities. The law enforcement agency in the republic of China carries guns, truncheons, and cuffs as part of their working tools when administering their duties. They arrest a suspect after a report is presented. The chief Prosecutor issues them with an arrest warrant or a search warrant to use for the arrest and search to obtain evidence. The supervisory bureau addresses any complaints against the police. (Xiang et al., n.d.).
China has four levels of courts. The law court includes the highest people’s court, the intermediary people’s court, and the primary people’s court. The supreme people’s court is the highest people’s court and is the central unit. It deals with matters of national concern. The supreme people’s court supervises the subordinate courts on how they are administering justice. Higher people’s law court is established in different provinces, sovereign regions, and towns. The court precedes over appeals commencing the intermediate people’s courts. Besides, it administers the supervision of justice by the minor courts. Intermediary courts deal with cases transferred from the primary courts and manage judges by in the primary people’s court. The court is established in counties, cities, and municipal districts. They handle all criminal cases, part of those that involve the nation. The issues brought before the court undergo pretrial, arraignment, trial, then finally sentencing. The sentencing depends on the type of crimes committed. The correction system in the People’s Republic of China comprises of reform-through-labor administration, reform-through-labor, autonomous regions, and municipalities. The correction unit has prisons, juveniles, and reform through labor teams (Xiang et al., n.d.).
The Criminal Justice System in Japan
Japan has a unitary legal system. All criminal procedures follow the same process as outlined by the Code of Criminal Practice of 1948 and the Rules of the Criminal of 1949 (Criminal Justice In Japan Chapter 1 Structure & Organization of The Criminal Justice Administration, n.d.-b). The police unit is distributed into two parts: the state police organization and the local police organization. As a branch of the police unit, the state police organization comprises the state public safety commission. The state public safety has a chairman, state minister, and five members appointed by the prime minister. It performs administrative functions over the national police agency. The commission articulates rules and guidelines, and co-ordinate police management on matters of the nation.
The commissioner-general is in control of the national police agency. The federal police agency’s general responsibility is to plan and investigate police structures such as the national police budget, police communication, training equipment, and forensics. The local police organization entails the prefectural public safety commission and the prefectural police headquarters.
The prefectural public safety commission performs managerial roles above the prefectural police. It formulates policies and regulates police operations. Prefectural police headquarters are responsible for performing the usual police duties. In Japan, the court system consists of the highest law court, the high law court, the district law court, the family court of law, and the summary court of law. The Supreme court of law is the highest in Japan. It is made up of the chief justice and fourteen justices. The Supreme court gives the final rulings and petitions against sentences expressly delivered in codes of trials. The high court listens to cases against the judgment rendered by the district courts. The district courts located are located in each city and oversee cases from the family courts. Family courts deal with juvenile issues. The summary courts deal with all crimes.
The correction system in japan is organized into correctional administration and correctional officials. Correctional administration comprises penal institutions with jails, young prisons, confinement houses, branch prisons and branch detention houses, and juvenile correctional institutions. Correctional officers head the correctional institutions. (Criminal Justice In Japan Chapter 1 Structure And Organization Of The Criminal Justice Administration, n.d.-b).
Comparisons
The United States criminal justice system, Japan, and China have similarities and differences. Both criminal procedures have structures, including the police, courts, and correction facilities. The US system has a network of illegal judicial structures that helps administer justice, while Japan and China have a unitary system. Court adjudicators in the US are randomly nominated from the eligible population, while in Japan and China, the top judges are elected by the prime minister.
The court of law organization in the US has the national court of law and state law court. China and Japan take a four leveled court system each. The judicial system in Japan and China is unitary. They have one structural criminal justice system. The courts are divided into four levels, each supreme court serving as the highest court. The adaptation of community policing between the US and Japan is different. Japan enforces the policing method by community poling to ensure law enforcement uses kanbans. This method is an effective way that other states are adopting (Beasley, 2015). The United States adopts a central policing approach. Finally, the criminal justice in the US, Japan, and China contain several arms to aid in their functioning. Law enforcement, the court system, and corrections form the basis of any criminal justice system.
References
Beasley, W. (2015). Museum architecture – What does it take to design a museum? Architectural Design, 85(1), 20–27. Web.
Criminal Justice in Japan chapter | Structure and Organization of The Criminal Justice Administration. (n.d.). Web.
Dammer, H. R., & Albanese, J. S. (2014). Comparative criminal justice systems (5th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Outline of Criminal Justice in Japan 2019 Supreme Court of Japan. (n.d.). Web.
Xiang, G., Zongxian, W., Zhangrun, X., Xiaohui, P., & Shuangshuang, L. (n.d.). World factbook of criminal justice systems China by Jianan Guo Ministry of Justice. Web.