Is the Criminal Justice System Fair and Functional Essay

Is the Criminal Justice System Fair and Functional - Essay Example For any act to be considered a crime, its actus reus must be shown. Actus reus can be in any of the following forms: â€Å"An act, or a failure to act (an omission), or a state of affairs† (Challenge College 2013, p. 2). In the first form above, an act, it must be shown that an act committed violates the law and if this cannot be shown then there cannot be any liability. For instance, in the crime of murder the actus reus is the unlawful killing of a person. Another way of assigning liability is through showing that an undesirable or otherwise incident took place because of a failure to act. The case of Pittwood (1902) bests illustrates how a failure to act may result in criminal liability (Challenge College 2013, p. 8). Lastly, crime liability can be proved through showing the state of affairs. Proof of a state of affairs that is declared wrong is enough to assign crime liability. Mens Rea This is another condition which has to be proven for a person to be considered liable f or a crime committed. Mens rea is considered to be a state of mind in which a person is fully aware of the consequences of his actions thus the doer is assumed to have an intention of the end result of whatever he or she does. There are two ways in which mens rea is assessed in England and Wales – subjectivism and objectivism. ... On the other hand, objectivism is thought to be too broad because it fails to consider defendants with lower than average IQ, that is, those who lack the capacity to reason as an average person would (Furey 2010, p. 1). An illustration of mens rea application can be seen in the case of R v Molony (1985) AC 905 whereby the defendant shot his step father dead but was acquitted of murder charges and instead charged with manslaughter. The intention to shoot was found not to be connected to killing (e-Law Resources 2013). Question 2: The Criminal Justice System Its function The criminal justice system is meant to ensure that every person under the law has access to justice. Having access to justice means being punished for wrongs accomplished, giving protection to those who are innocent and making it possible for those convicted of wrongs to stop offending. The system aims at â€Å"delivering an efficient, effective, accountable and fair justice process for the public† (Garside 201 3, p. 1). It is further noted that the system must sieve among potential, alleged and actual criminal activities and ensure that treatment adjudicated on persons is rightful. Its Working The criminal justice system is composed of many agencies which work in unity to ensure that justice is availed to all. The agencies involved in this system include â€Å"the Crown Prosecution Service, the police, the courts and the National Offender Management Service† (Criminal Justice System 2013, p. 1). The three government departments which oversee the criminal justice system are â€Å"the Ministry of Justice, the Home office and the Attorney General’s Office† (Criminal Justice System 2013, p. 1). The Ministry of