Course 4
Criminal Justice Administration
A brief note on Criminal Justice System
Criminal justice system is the form governance which a nation may use for controlling
violations of law and maintaining public order, social cohesiveness and morality. The
Criminal justice system is essentially an instrument of social control. Society considers
some behaviours so dangers and destructive that it either strictly controls their occurrence or
outlaws them altogether. It is the job of the agencies of justice to prevent this behaviour by
apprehending and punishing such behaviour and taking steps in deterring their future
occurrence.The Police, the Prosecution, the Judiciary and the Prisons form the important
constitutents of the Criminal Justice System.
The police and Criminal Justice System
In context of the role of Police in the society, it is interesting to see that the society
maintains different forms of social controls such as the family, school, religious institutions
etc, but they are designed to deal with moral not legal misbehaviour. Only the criminal
justice system has the power to control crime and to punish criminals. This is because an act
or behaviours becomes ‘crime’ only when the law considers it as a crime or wrong doing.
Criminal justice system thus involves a process which identifies wrong doings, attributes
responsibility, assess harm and imposes penalties in attempt to do justice, restore social
order and prevent recurrence of such wrong doing. The criminal law determines what is
wrong, what is expectable and what is not acceptable behaviours. The criminal justice
system enforces this law.
Objectives of Criminal Justice System
The criminal justice system is based on the following objectives -:
1. The violator of the public is needed to be punished in order to maintain social order and
civilized conduct.
2. Common civilians need to be protected against unjustified andavoidable risks to their person
and property.
3. Victimization of persons in their private lives needs a public redress mechanism to protect
them from such victims.
4. The public wrongs and the violation of law should get punished to prevent future
recurrence.
5. The criminal justice system is also responsible for rehabilitating offenders and converting
them into law observing citizens.
6. The criminal institutions have the primary responsibilities of enforcing criminal law in order
to create a safe and civilized social environment for law abiding citizens.
The practice of criminal justice, ranges from identifying and investigating offences,
gathering legally relevant information, assessing its seriousness, constructing a case and proving
its commission, through to convictions, judgment, sentencing and punishment. The key agents
of criminal justice system are the police, the prosecution, the judiciary, the prisons and the
correctional institutions.
The Criminal Justice Process
Usually the transgressions of law are brought to the attention of the police which prepares
the grounds for future criminal investigation. Therefore, the charges against accused having
been framed, his trial begins in the appropriate criminal court. The Court records the evidence
and decides whether the charges against accused are proved or not. In case the guilt is proved,
the accused is convicted by the Court and sent to prison or some correctional institution to
undergo a term of sentence. Thus a number of functional agencies, notably, the police, the
courts and the prisons or after-care institutions, are involved in the administration of criminal
justice. To these may be added the institutions of probation and parole which seek to bring
about reformation of offenders, particularly, the young and the juvenile delinquents.
It must be stated that all criminal trials do not necessarily involve the services of all of these
agencies. In several cases the offender is discharged by the police after preliminary
investigation while in others, prosecution against the accused is dropped by the court at some
stage or he is finally acquitted of the charge. Again, even after conviction many offenders are
released on probation and are not required to be sent to prison or a correctional institution.
Those who are sent to prison may also be granted parole. Thus it would be seen that from the
point of view of sentence, the role of police comes first in the administration of criminal justice
while those of courts and prisons is followed subsequently.
Suggested Readings
1. Bureau of Police Research & Development, Research Studies Compendium 1970-2006.
BPR&D New Delhi 2006.
2. Lacey.N(ed), A Reader in Criminal Justice Oxford University Press Oxford 1994.
3. Paranjape.N.V, Criminology and Penology 13th edition, Central Law Publishing House
Allahbad 2008.
4. Reiner Robert, The Politics of Police, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2000
5. Raghvan RK, Policing a Democracy, A Compartaive Study of India & USA, Manohar
Publishing House New Delhi 1999.
6. Sharma.P.D, Police and Criminal Justice Administration in India, Uppal Publishing
House, New Delhi 1985..
7. Seigeal Larry, Criminology, WadsWorthThomson Learning, Balmount USA 2001
8. Sutherland and Cressey, Principles of Criminology, The Times of India Press 1965.
9. Zender.Lucia, Criminal Justice, Clarendon Law Series, Oxford University Press, Oxford
2004.
