The Government's Fight Against Crime “The planned introduction of identity cards proves, if further proof
be needed, that this government is committed to the crime control
model of criminal justice”
In every nation the authority and dedication of the government towards
doing its work is challenged again and again. As the U.K. government
changed its attitude in dealing with crime it was yet again questioned
and criticised as change is very hard to accept. But, as the people
accepted the change the controversy evolved from transition of a new
system to how well the government is functioning on the new system.
With the introduction of the I.D. Cards bill in the Queen’s speech on
17th May 2005, the government was again confronted about its
dedication to the new rules.
There was a time, when the U.K. government was following the due
process model of criminal justice system. Simply put, the due process
model says that we are ‘innocent until proven guilty’, that judges are
free from political interference, that confessions are not extracted
through fear and torture. In one statement it was committed to the
fundamental right of a fair trial. With time and need, these
fundamental rights slowly disintegrated and what emerged is known as
the crime control model. A criminal justice system that is based on a
'crime control' model would not prioritise these features at all, but
would instead be concerned with tamperin...
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...citizens.
Identity cards bill is criticised mainly on the grounds of cost and
complexity, date protection and privacy implications. Also there is an
opposition on the bill from the civil rights group as well as the
parliamentarians who contend that, in addition to this being
unnecessary and costly, it might also be unlawful, as it explores the
possible violation of the European Convention of Human Rights.
We can contemplate on the basis of the above that the government is
working very hard against fighting crime and has no longer followed
the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’. It has become more
harsh and in other words shades of dictatorial decisions and laws
being introduced can be seen, which just show the consistency and
devotion of the government in adhering to the crime control model of
justice.