The Constitution and Accountability Mechanisms of the Prosecution Service in South Africa.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, created a sole National Prosecution Authority called the NPA, which is controlled by the National Prosecuting Authority Act (Act No. 32 of 1998). Section 179(2) of the Constitution provides that the NPA has the power to institute criminal proceedings on behalf of the State, to carry out any necessary functions incidental to institution of criminal proceedings and to discontinue criminal proceedings.
Parliament passed the National Prosecution Authority Act of 1998 in order to give effect to the provision of s179 of the Constitution. This is evident in the case of National Director of Public Prosecutions v Zuma. This case, the weight was given in the main interpretation of section 179 of the Constitution. The SCA held that this section did not require that the NDPP had to invite Mr Zuma to make representations as to why he should not be prosecuted before charging him, and to provide him with a full explanation why previously, it was decided not to prosecute was not followed.
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This assignment will deal with the composition or the structure of the prosecution service called the NPA. Hereafter, it will give emphasis on the obligation of the NPA to be accountable for its functions, take accountability for them. It will also address the people which can constitutionally hold the NPA liable if it is not performing duties assigned for it. Lastly in this assignment I will give recommendations on how to deal with the problems the NPA is experiencing.
It is necessary to write about the NPA, because it is a very important establishment, if the NPAs functions and responsibilities are no...
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...re the recommendations on how to improve the performance of the South African criminal justice system.
> To improve the manner in which the system is achieved,
>To place larger energy into crime expectation,
>To take a bigger combined understanding on how to extent success in fighting crime,
>To teach the government bodies about the importance of criminal justice system,
> To remove all corrupt members in a justice system and
> To place hard punishments on members of criminal justice system who are misbehaving, such as to not allow them to work at any public sector.
With the help of the competent members of the National Prosecution Authority we can fight injustice, corruption and inequality, and build a better criminal justice system which is independent, corrupt-free and does not favour any person regardless of his or her position in the legal system.
This report will be on the Police service. It will explain who the police are and their role and function within the Criminal Justice System and society. In addition, it will talk about police misconduct and the results of police misconduct within the police, government and society.
We decided that the Mau Mau’s violence was justifiable in this case.The one fact that made us lean towards the decision was that there were among 30,000 Kenyans who lost their lives toward this uprising, and only 30 British died. As both the defendants and prosecutors did an excellent job, I believed that the Defense's case was more organized with facts, arguments and quotes that helped me
The Criminal Justice System can be very rewarding because it deters crime, protects and minimize recidivism all while treating all Americans equally under the law (Department of Justice, 2013). The Criminal Justice System’s Administration is composed of three system components which collectively functions the Criminal Justice System if effectively enforced and monitored (The Criminal Justice System, 2008). The Criminal Justice Administration is composed of Police Officers, Public Defenders and other Legal occupant whose main job is to protect, serve and rehabilitate (The Criminal Justice System, 2008). When the Administration’s occupants become involved in corruption they become a conflict of interest. Conflicting Rewards can negatively impact the Criminal Justice Administration and the people it was created to serve when the primary goal becomes undesirable (Kirby, 2016).
In conclusion, either while watching television or listen to the news you hear of how certain things are tainting our criminal justice system or that certain things or people are being corrupted in the system.
The criminal justice system is a group of institutions that work together to protect a society, prevent and control crime, and maintain justice; enforcing the laws regulated by society. As the years have gone by and society has evolved; so have the criminal justice system and its methods to accomplish its role in society. This short analysis will evaluate the main facts that have been affecting the criminal justice system for decades and have influenced the evolution the justice system is enduring in a changing society (Muraski, 2009). Amongst the changes in the system, we will discuss the effect the changes have had on the citizens and how their perceptions have evolved as well.
The Criminal Justice System, a framework the British government set up to manage the treatment of culprits, has three principle objectives to accomplish social request, these are, (1) implementing criminal law, (2) keeping up peace in the general public, and (3) helping casualties. This may appear to be a well-considered framework, yet like some other association, there are blemishes, and one of the real imperfections is separation, and the predisposition that originates from segregation.
Wanting to understand and be involved with putting the right criminal behind bars has always been a passion. Getting a better understanding of the criminal justice system explained how innocent can be convicted. During, this learning process it has been obvious that there are new and lethal forms of criminality, which can range from international terrorism to transnational syndicates.
All the laws, which concern with the administration of justice in cases where an individual has been accused of a crime, always begin with the initial investigation of the crime and end either with imposition of punishment or with the unconditional release of the person. Most of the time it is the duty of the members of constituted authorities to inflict the punishment. Thus it can be said that almost all of the punishments are an act of self-defense and an act of defending the community against different types of offences. According to Professor Hart “the ultimate justification of any punishment is not that it is deterrent but that it is the emphatic denunciation by the community of a crime” (Hart P.65). Whenever the punishments are inflicted having rationale and humane factor in mind and not motivated by our punitive passions and pleasures then it can be justified otherwise it is nothing but a brutal act of terrorism. Prison System: It has often been argued that the criminals and convicted prisoners are being set free while the law-abiding citizens are starving. Some people are strongly opposed the present prison and parole system and said that prisoners are not given any chance for parole. Prisons must provide the following results: Keep dangerous criminals off the street Create a deterrent for creating a crime The deterrent for creating a crime can be justified in the following four types Retribution: according to this type, the goal of prison is to give people, who commit a crime, what they deserved Deterrence: in this type of justification, the goal of punishment is to prevent certain type of conduct Reform: reform type describes that crime is a disease and so the goal of punishment is to heal people Incapacitation: the...
The concept of restorative justice became a game-changer in juvenile justice system. Through the course of time, professionals explored every possible methods and approaches that could positively affect the children without the expense of harming their future and wellbeing. The idea of restorative justice is “administer justice that focuses or repairing the harm done to the victim and the community. (Save the Children-UK, 2005)” The four guiding principles are to: (1) Repair and restore the balance within the community. (2) restitution for the victim. (3) Ensure that the offender understand and take responsibility. (4) Help the offender to change and improve. In South Africa, this is practiced in their community throughout
Lozoff, Bo. "Seven Ways to Fix the Criminal Justice System." New Renaissance Magazine: Renaissance Universal. Renaissance Universal Featuring New Renaissance, 21 June 2003. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. .
In the year 1970, the Canadian government founded the Law Reform Commission of Canada to ensure the progression of law making and to make recommendations for legal changes . The Law Reform Commission of Canada is constantly importing and suggesting proposals towards the criminal code of Canada. During the year of 1985, t...
The issue in this question is regarding the effect of Criminal Justice Act 2003 (CJA 2003) to previous English sentencing system regarding one of the aims of punishment i.e. retribution. It is a duty for courts to apply under section 142 (1) of CJA 2003. The section requires the courts to have regarded the aims in imposing sentence to offenders which has now plays a smaller role in serving punishment. And how profound this changes has been.
The focus is on the issues of police accountability in modern society, and in particular why their accountability is more important than other professions. This is not surprising considering the amount of power and discretion police officers have, and the level of trust that the public holds with these civil servants. Police officers accountability is the biggest thing in their profession which has been an issue of concern they have to be accountable to the police department who want the officer to be an effective and responsible person, to people in the community who have best expectation from an officer and being accountable to themselves for their acts. An ordinary citizen of a country cannot obtain the powers that police officer’s have.
Criminal Justice is composed of many lateral departments that help us define and better understand how crime can come about in our society. Crime can be learned and used to help one satisfy their personal gain and utilized to replace what is missing. Crime can be reduced by developing rules that enhance the social support that is needed to help families and the community educate them to keep their surrounding safe. By implementing custodial control and punishment can deter some crime but not eliminate it altogether. The criminal justice system is not a system that will stop crime but more of guidelines that come with committing crimes. Our society deserve to live in a safe and healthy environment and by providing policies and rules that help regulate criminal activity will ensure our society that crime will be prosecuted and carried out to the fullest.
Laws serve several purposes in the criminal justice system. The main purpose of criminal law is to protect, serve, and limit human actions and to help guide human conduct. Also, laws provide penalties and punishment against those who are guilty of committing crimes against property or persons. In the modern world, there are three choices in dealing with criminals’ namely criminal punishment, private action and executive control. Although both private action and executive control are advantageous in terms of costs and speed, they present big dangers that discourage their use unless in exceptional situations. The second purpose of criminal law is to punish the offender. Punishing the offender is the most important purpose of criminal law since by doing so; it discourages him from committing crime again while making him or her pay for their crimes. Retribution does not mean inflicting physical punishment by incarceration only, but it also may include things like rehabilitation and financial retribution among other things. The last purpose of criminal law is to protect the community from criminals. Criminal law acts as the means through which the society protects itself from those who are harmful or dangerous to it. This is achieved through sentences meant to act as a way of deterring the offender from repeating the same crime in the future.