Criminal Law: Britain To Amend its Criminal Justice System

Britain is all set to amend its broken criminal justice system. In July 2010, the justice secretary, Ken Clark, announced the ‘Rehabilitation Revolution,’ which has the support of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron. He has firmly supported the proposal against short sentences. As per the plan which is currently in development phase by the Ministry of Justice, probably the sentence of six months would be replaced by community punishments. Further, top five priorities of the Ministry of Justice include reforms spanning different areas such as revolution in rehabilitation, courts, legal aid, reforms of prison property and restoration of civil liberties.

Criminal Law: Present Criminal Justice System is not Helping Britain

Britain’s new Justice Secretary has surprised many with his speech on revolution of the present criminal law and  justice system. Clark admitted that the existing criminal justice system of Britain is not working. He further mentioned that the amended criminal justice system will emphasize on punishing the offenders stringently, safeguarding public interest and providing access to justice, in a transparent manner.

Clark also pointed out that shorter sentences hardly cut down on ‘reoffending.’ This means the prospect of the punished person committing the same offence again and again. The growing rate of prison population in Britain has caused much alarm as it also proves that neither prison nor the fear of crime seems effective. The existing criminal justice system emphasizes on prison and punishment, rather than rehabilitation. Clark said that a reformative approach should be adopted.

Criminal Law: Britain to Enforce Community Service for Convicts

The British Prime Minister has strongly supported Clark’s theories. He agreed to Clark’s argument that the present criminal justice system is not functioning well. He said that half of convicts are drug addicts, over ten percent are foreigners and the reoffending rate is alarming. However, Cameron pointed out that the reformative approach will ensure that punishment and reforms go together. Also, the community services would be made more effective. The offenders will wear high visibility fluorescent jackets and local communities would decide the projects, on which they want the offenders to work.