Prosecution Ethics
Any work that is related to interaction with people is considerably influenced by the ethical principles and presupposes solution of particular ethical dilemmas and problems. Such important and influential position as the one of prosecutor can only be successful and prosperous if ethical principles are taken as a basis. Otherwise, it is practically impossible to achieve fairness that is required in the modern society. In this paper I will explain how ethics influences prosecution’s strategy, justifying the above presented statements.
First of all, it is necessary to state that prosecutors first of all should not only advocate, but also see that justice is done. In order to do it, they have to be neutral and objective, which involves certain ethical problems. If prosecutor has any relations with a victim, neutral relations are difficult to be established (Sanders & Young, 2004). It happens due to several reasons – first, previous relations with victim can result in certain conflicts; second, if prosecutor has already represented a victim before, the relations can also be not so neutral.
On the whole, it is possible to single out four major ethical challenges of prosecutors. The first of them is acting of prosecutor as the surrogate of the victim. In this case the prosecutor advocates the victim’s interests almost exclusively. It results from commonly practiced situation in the US when private complainants and attorneys of victims are allowed to assist prosecution and even to prosecute the cases on their own (Gershman, 2005). In this case such a situation is created that can indeed diminish the fairness of the whole system of criminal justice. The other situation that can lead to the same result is employment of a prosecutor as a part-time pursuant to local or state law. In this case it is likely that matters of different positions can overlap, affecting neutrality of the prosecutor.
The second challenging situation for a prosecutor is when he acts as avenger of the victim. In this case prosecutors take the role of so-to-say champions of people, i.e. they get too involved in the tragedies of their victims, which directly affects the ability to stay neutral. Among the typical actions of such prosecutors is advocating death penalty. In the case prosecutor chooses this strategy, it is difficult for him to see whether the legal rights of defendants are observed. Moreover, such prosecutors often tend to manipulate the mass media and engage in the other kinds of inflammatory tactics (Sanders & Young, 2004).
The third situation is compromising discretion of the prosecutor. In order to be fair and effective, prosecutors should establish cooperative relations with victims of crimes. If he fails to notify victim of some changes in the schedule or other organizational information, it is definitely unethical (Gershman, 2005). The last situation resulting in ethical challenges for prosecutor is unwilling victim. In this case the main challenge is to what extent prosecutor should employ coercive tactics to facilitate victim to testify and to appear in court. Often unwilling victims bring a lot of problems, including ethical ones, to prosecutors. Especially this challenge is visible in the cases of domestic violence.
References
Gershman, B.L. (2005). Prosecutorial Ethics and Victims' Rights: The Prosecutor's Duty of Neutrality. Pace Law Faculty Publications. Paper 122. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/122/
Sanders, A., & Young, R. (2004). The Ethics of Prosecution Lawyers. Legal Ethics, 7(2), 190-209.
