The System its bases is common law practiced in England and Wales.
Murder
Murder is the most serious crime known to the criminal law which is punished by mandatory life sentence though it is also accepted that deaths can be a result of a unintential act. Murder is described as the unlawful killing with intention to kill a living human being though it can be reduced to manslaughter. Homicide is categorised in three main ways which are murder, manslaughter and infanticide whose sentencing varies.
The English common law has no definition in a statute though its punishment can be prescribed in law. The definition continues to be a matter of the common law. The categorisation of the murder charge benefits a person charged of killing as there are chances of getting the lesser charge of manslaughter which has a lesser sentence if there is failure to prove murder.
In England and Wales, when a person commits a crime she/he will be apprehended and charged for the alleged crime. If there is enough evidence, the person will be prosecuted under the relevant law. Safeguards are put in place to ensure that there is no abuse of power by officials under the due process model.The legal system is adversarial which is the standard of proof that describes the format and structure of a trial as well as the trial itself.
When murder is committed in England, a criminal case is taken court by the Crown Prosecution Service. The case against the accused must be proved beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution. The burden of proof also rests on the prosecution to prove that the accused did commit the crime in question. Serious crimes like murder are dealt with in the Crown Court and by the jury.
The court in a criminal case does not need to enquire into the truth of what happened instead whether the prosecution has proved its allegations by raising the following questions. In England and Wales the crime of murder is common law crime not one that is established by an Act of Parliament. This means that it can change regularly by being repealed or amended by parliament. It is punishable by a mandatory life sentence.
There are two aspects which are required for someone to be said to be guilty under the English legal System which are actus reas which is the guilty act and mens rea the guilty mind which is intent to kill or intention to cause grievous bodily harm. For the defendant to be said to have the mens rea of murder, there ought to be something more than just the foresight or knowledge that death or serious injury would be the result of the defendant’s actictions.
The draft Criminal Code in clause 54(1) recommended is accepted in English Law, n the intention to do grievous bodily harm to be sufficient mens rea for murder under this clause the act of the accused should show intention to cause serious harm as well as being aware that the act may lead to death.
There should be clear evidence of an intention which has to be proved not only when the defendant’s motive is to kill or cause grievous bodily harm but rather when death or grievous bodily is harm is certainly the result of the defendant’s actions. In past case the judge held that the mens rea of murder need not be aimed at a specific person if it was so terrorists place a bomb in a public place it is irrelevant that no individual specific target as long as people or a person died it is also not relevant that terrorists might claim justification for the act through a political purpose.
How and why one carries out the killing can only have bearing on the relevant sentence. The fact that the prosecution required to prove its case and every component of it is shown throughout the trial process. The defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty which makes it the defendant’s right to remain silent before, during or after the trial is over. The rules of the procedure and evidence have advanced to make certain that only those who are convicted are guilty. Under the system all persons stabbing someone for example may have actus reas of murder. The proof of the charge in criminal cases includes the evidence of two clear propositions which are firstly that the act was actually done and that it was done by the person(s) charged this is called corpus delict.
The other issue the courts has to take into consideration is causation /foreseabilty.For a killing to amount to murder by the accused at the time of death, the accused’s actions or omissions must be the undertaking and most substantial cause of death with no intervention to break the chain of causation.
English court decisions includes in the statement of the facts of the case, the list and analysis by the presiding judge of different statutes and precedents which are relevant to the case. The specifity of the English legal rule is that it is made to give a solution to a case which is characterised by certain facts. There is no need to look to statutes to find the rules of law legislation are simply applied as previously held by the previous judge.
The English Legal System is a case law system was court decisions replace provisions. It shows uniformity in that like cases should be treated alike creating a variety of expectations to those involved in the legal process. The other characteristic of the system is the penal sanction which bases on the principle that those who violate the law ought to be punished or cautioned. This works as a deterrent to would be criminals and as a crime control tool.
England and Wales’ legal system is bases on restorative justice which in itself promotes good working relationships between the offenders and the government by employing a system that is fair benefits both the country and the defendant. The methods used to establish criminal responsibility is one that benefits both the offender and the prosecution as there are safe guards that no innocent person will be convicted unless certain requirements are met. As the result of the crime controls in place the system works to further justice for all.
One of the models that may be employed is the criminal control method which unlike the due process takes the most important function of the criminal justice system as a repression of the criminal conduct in society’s interest at large taking the position that the system ought to operate with efficiency as possible to achieve this goal meaning that those who are involved on both sides in the criminal justice system possess the capacity to for investigating try to have high number of convictictions of the offenders which may be known to them. The pressure exerted on them may lead to the use of methods that are not formal instead of abiding with the strict rules of procedure. Extra judicial process is accepted as having more effectiveness in reaching the ultimate goal of crime control. The model involves expertise of the police and prosecution working together in screening the innocent instead on leaving it to the more thorough judicial process’s idea being that all offenders should be dealt with in a speedy way which will benefit both parties. However as this model allows for safeguards for individuals involved there is still need for the police to extract evidence through confession by the accused
References
Criminal justice Act 2003
Crownie, F., Bradney, A., Burton,F. (2007) The English Legal System, Oxford: Oxford Press
Davies,C. & Tyre, J. (2008) Criminal Justice: An Introduction to the Criminal justice system in England and Wales 3rd edition. Harlow, England: Pearson Longman
Slapper, G. &Kelly, D. (2011-2012) The English Legal System 12th edition, Milton Park, Abington: Routledge Publishing
