Sample Social and Human Sciences On Criminal and Judicial System

Homework Question on Criminal and Judicial System

• In the Anglo-Saxon Era a drastic shift began toward what is now known as the criminal justice system. The rise of European violence in medieval England and the surrounding regions resulted in the establishment of a systematic response to abnormal behavior.
• For this Discussion, you examine English Common Law by comparing two patterns of criminal activity and violence in England between the years 570 and 1725. Then, you consider the effect the development of constitutional law and political freedom had on our current criminal justice system.

1. Compare two patterns of criminal activity and violence in England during this period.
2. Explain their effect on the development of constitutional law and political freedom in England.
3. Finally, explain how English Common Law influenced the American criminal justice system.
4. Provide an example.

Homework Answer on Criminal and Judicial System

The period between 507 and 1625 featured the era regarded as the Dark Age. This was the time during which the Roman Britannia kingdom faced confrontations by the Vikings of Saxon. During this time, the English criminal procedure applied the principle that an accused person should not be presented by counsel in trial. The trial was further to be privately instigated. Felonies such as severe criminal and violence cases had severe sentences: one was either set free or hanged (Caenegem, 1988).

The development of constitutional reforms has led to the abolition of private hearings in criminal cases, where the accused are also presented by a defense attorney. The punishment has shifted largely to imprisonment, and law enforcement is the responsibility of the police force. This has led to the right of the accused to a fair hearing. The introduction of a judicial system abolished the case where any Englishman could prosecute any crime.

The ancestries of the American jurisdictional structure are vested in English colonization after their invasion. The only difference was that America was much less developed and occupied. The colonial era of criminal justice was divided into the village era and the town period. The growth of the American criminal justice system can be traced to the various factors that led the immigrants to America. The colonialists still remained under the English law; they developed mechanisms to fit the social society.