These are my notes for the WJEC Level 3 Criminology Unit 4 Exam that got me 100/100. I made and used these notes to do active recall; they were extremely useful, containing ALL information required to do the best of the best. I can assure you these notes are extremely high quality and will help you...
Campaigns and changes in policy
● Sarah’s Law:
○ Sarah Payne was murdered by convicted child sex abuser Roy Whiting in
2000
○ Her mother started the campaign to spread awareness that offenders against
children could be living in an area of children without parents knowing
○ Aimed to change to law to allow parents or carers to ask for information about
a person’s criminal record who has had contact with their child and they are
concerned that they pose a risk
○ Was successful - Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme introduced
● Snowdrop campaign:
○ Initially it was legal to own a gun in the UK
○ Dunblane Massacre occurred where a serial killer breached a school, killing
16 teenagers and 1 teacher
○ Government passed the Firearms Act in 1997 to ban the possession of guns
in the UK
● Ann Ming’s campaign:
○ Julie Hogg was murdered by Billy Dunlop
○ Bill Dunlop had already being tried twice and found not guilty
○ He was later arrested for a different crime and confessed to the murder, but
the double jeopardy law prevented him from being tried again
○ Julie’s mum, Ann, launched a campaign which eventually led to the double
jeopardy law being abolished for all serious offences like murder and Billy
was convicted
AC1.1 Describe processes used for law making:
Government processes
The usual way for laws to be made is through parliament, which is made up of the:
- House of Commons: consists of MPs that are elected and each represent their
constituency
- House of Lords: consists of peers who double check new laws
- Monarch
A bill is a proposal for a new law; process of law making:
● The pre-parliamentary stages include the Green Paper, a discussion document which
triggers public consultation, and the White Paper, which contains firm proposals for
the new law
● First reading is where the bill is introduced into the Commons followed by a vote
● Second reading is where main principles of the bill are debated and a vote is taken
● Committee stage is where the bill is reviewed in detail by a group of committee
members and potential amendments are proposed
● Report stage is where MPs review the committee’s report and debate and vote on
the proposed amendments
● Third reading is the final chance for the contents of the bill to be debated followed by
a vote to pass or reject the bill
, ● All stages are then repeated in the House of Lords - bill may be sent back and forth
between the 2 houses with suggested amendments known as “ping pong”
● Royal Assent is the final stage whereby the monarch gives approval of the bill and
makes it an Act.
Judicial processes
Judicial precedents are legal decisions made by judges in a court case that create laws for
future judges to follow in similar cases throughout the court hierarchy. This helps to create
certainty, consistency and fairness in the legal system. It has been used to create a single
set of laws that are common to the whole country known as common law. Exceptions:
● Distinguishing: If the judge believes that the facts of the present case are different to
those in the previous case, the precedent doesn’t have to be followed and a new
legal decision can be made.
● Overruling: If the judges in a higher court believe that the legal decisions made in a
previous case are wrong, they can overturn the precedent - e.g. R v R in 1991, where
marital rape exemption under common law was overruled making it so it is a crime
for a husband to rape his wife
Statutory interpretation is where the judge interprets the meaning of a word or phrase in an
Act to make laws that can be applied to future cases. Rules:
● Literal rule is where the judge uses the everyday meaning of words in the law to
prevent over-creativity.
● Golden rule is where the judge can use common sense to modify the law in their
decision making when the literal rule leads to an absurd result
● Mischief rule is where the judge can enforce what the law intended rather than the
literal meaning.
AC1.2 Describe the organisation of the criminal justice system in England and
Wales:
The criminal justice system includes the creation, administration and enforcement of laws,
courts and the punishment of offenders.
Police
The police enforce the criminal law by investigating crimes, arresting, detaining and
questioning suspects, and either issuing cautions/fixed penalties in the case of some minor
crimes or proposing the case to the CPS - 43 regional police forces in England and Wales.
Relationships with:
● Courts: give evidence in court as witnesses, and hold defendants in police cells and
transport defendants to/from court
● CPS: propose cases with evidence for potential prosecution inline with CPS
instructions
● Defence lawyers: liaise with them when a defendant is being questioned in police
custody to allow them to have their legal consultation/aid
● HM Prison and Probation Service: arrest prisoners who have breached probation
terms and ensure return to prison if necessary, cooperate with them to manage the
list of child sex offenders in their area to keep inline with Sarah’s law, and liaise with
, them when a prisoner is involved in ongoing police investigations and needs to be
questioned
● Voluntary organisations: police refer victims and witnesses to organisations like
Victim Support
Law creation
Government departments:
● Parliament passes Acts.
● Judges create law through judicial precedent and statutory interpretation.
● The Ministry of Justice (provides legal aid, and administers justice and detention of
offenders) and Home Office (responsible for immigration, security and policing)
oversee administration of the law.
…relationships with:
● MoJ sponsors and administers the work of the HM Courts and Tribunals Service, and
the HM Prison and Probation Service
● Work of government and judges decide the law that the police enforce and use to
prosecute offenders within court
● Government departments fund parts of CJS from general tax
Courts
HM Courts and Tribunals Service is responsible for administration of courts and tribunals in
E&W.
● Suspects brought before magistrates’ court for pre-trial hearing to discuss issues like
plea, bail and legal aid - not guilty plea leads on to trial
● Different courts in the hierarchy, such as magistrates which deal with 95% of all
cases to begin with and typically the less serious ones, and crown which deal with
more serious offences using juries.
● Prosecution and defence lawyers present a case for and against the defendant using
evidence which can be testimonial and/or physical.
● Jury and magistrates decide the verdict and if guilty, judges and magistrates will
decide the punishment based on the law and Sentencing Guidelines
Relationships with:
● HM Prison service:
○ Carries out custodial sentences imposed by judges (who set the term of
imprisonment including length and type) in courts on offenders
○ Supervises defendants who have been remanded into custody by court
(refused bail)
○ Hold prisoners attending court or pending their return to prison in court cells
○ Arrange video recordings or live links for prisoners giving evidence from
prison
● Probation service:
○ Prepares pre-sentence reports on offenders for the court
○ Carries out the community order imposed by courts and ensures any terms
are met, such as residency requirements and rehabilitation programmes
● Judiciary: courts work with judges to create new laws
● Police and security organisations: ensure safe delivery of offenders from prison to
court if remanded into custody
, ● Liaise with both prosecution and defence parties to arrange a court trial and ensure
all are aware of the court processes and requirements
The Crown Prosecution Service is an independent body responsible for prosecuting criminal
cases through a court trial in order to secure the conviction of offenders; it was set up under
the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 and they were given full power over charging suspects
under the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Relationships with:
● Police: advice on lines of enquiry and evidence collection that is required to properly
build a case - available on their 24/7 on-call system (CPS Direct), and instruct them
on charging suspects for very minor offences
● Courts: preparing and presenting the prosecution case against offenders within
Magistrates’ or Crown Court
● Supports victims and prosecution witnesses
Formal punishment
HM Prison and Probation Service is responsible for carrying out sentences given to
offenders by the courts:
HM Prison Service is responsible for keeping and supervising offenders in custody.
Relationships with:
● Courts:
○ Carries out custodial sentences imposed by judges (who set the term of
imprisonment including length and type) in courts on offenders
○ Supervises defendants who have been remanded into custody by court
(refused bail)
○ Hold prisoners attending court or pending their return to prison in court cells
○ Arrange video recordings or live links for prisoners giving evidence from
prison
● Lawyers: facilitates visits from defendants’ lawyers in prison for legal consultations
● Police: facilitate interviews between officers and prisoners involved in police
investigations
● National Probation Service: liaise with them to assess offenders that are set to be
released from prison on licence to determine if they are suitable and safe and, if so,
prepare them, and also liaise with them when an offender has breached their
probation terms and has been recalled to prison
● Police and other security organisations help with transporting defendants who have
been remanded into custody or sentenced to prison
National Probation service is responsible for supervising high risk offenders that have been
released into the community on probation (community order or on licence):
● Courts: prepares pre-sentence reports on offenders ready for court, supervises
offenders who have been given a community sentence by court, and supervises
rehabilitation programmes under court orders
● Police: liaises with them if an order is breached and prisoner is recalled while on
probation - police will arrest them and ensure return to prison
, ● HM Prison Service: liaise with them when an offender is set to be released to assess
their suitability, prepare them and supervise them in the community, and also liaise
when an offender has breached their probation terms
AC1.3 Describe models of criminal justice:
Due process
● State power is the greatest threat to freedom so accused need to be protected from
oppression, such as by police, prosecutors and judges - emphasises rights of
accused
● Presumption of innocence until proven guilty after a fair trial
● Less trust in police to carry out safe investigations and prosecutions - favours the
idea of following a set of due process rules, such as rules of arrest, questioning, and
admissibility and disclosure of evidence, to safeguard rights of accused in all
investigations and trials
● Obstacles like legal technicalities put in place that prosecution need to overcome to
secure a conviction - difficult so guilty may go free, but isn’t as evil as convicting
innocent people
○ Example: Police and Criminal Evidence Act introduced to lay out lawful and
fair police procedures
Links to theories:
➔ Left realism: in order for crime to be effectively tackled, community cooperation is
required - police need to ensure they are following legal, impartial procedures to
ensure that the community are willing to cooperate in order to reduce crime
➔ Labelling theory: set of due process rules helps to prevents police from targeting
individuals that they deem as “typical criminals”, preventing people from being
negatively labelled and falling into self-fulfilling prophecy
Crime control
● Crime is greatest threat to freedom so it needs to be suppressed by catching,
punishing, deterring and preventing offenders - emphasises rights of victims and
society
● Presumption of guilt - trust police to identify and prosecute the guilty through their
investigations
● Free from obstacles like legal technicalities that hinder investigations
● Conveyor belt approach as it favours idea of speedily prosecuting, convicting and
punishing suspects - may lead to convicting innocent people, but it’s a price worth
paying for convicting lots of guilty people overall
○ Example: removal of double-jeopardy law for serious offences like murder
Links to theories:
➔ Right realism: favours crime control policies like zero tolerance - gives great power to
police to investigate and prevent crime (no crime is acceptable so punishment for all)
➔ Durkheim’s functionalism theory: punishment reinforces society’s moral boundaries
and expresses its moral outrage - social cohesion (necessary for a smoothly
functioning society)
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