NCJ Number
158655
Date Published
1995
Length
27 pages
Annotation
Following a brief review of the history of Britain's criminal justice system, this chapter explains the rationale for criminalizing selected behaviors, the nature of law enforcement, and criminal justice and constitutionalism.
Abstract
The review of the history of Britain's criminal justice system concludes that the criminal justice system has never been planned as a "system," and to refer to it as one is simply a convenience. A second conclusion is that its origins are not in the objectives of crime reduction or of protecting victims, but in the political exigencies of medieval England. Criminal justice is, in part, a means of maintaining and reinforcing state authority, and its evolution has as much to do with politics and economics as law or morals. The discussion of the criminalization of criminal behavior argues that the boundaries of the criminal law should be as narrow as possible and involve conduct where there is a positive harm to another person and where there is an identifiable public interest in imposing penal sanctions. Subtopics discussed in considering this theme are the control of heroin use; immorality, crime, and the sado-masochist; autonomy and the public welfare; and the politics of legislating morality. The concluding section of this chapter notes the significance of constitutionalism as a means of not only ensuring that citizens are prohibited from and sanctioned for doing harm to one another but also of ensuring that citizens are protected from abuse by the state's power. 20 footnotes