International Crime Witness, Part 2
Running head: International Crime Witness 1
International Crime Witness 5
International Crime Witness
Student’s name
Institute of Affiliation
The pertinent demographic, social, political, and economic factors of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom consists of different nations such as Scotland, England, Wales as well as Northern Ireland. The official language is English, which is spoken by more than 97% of the nation’s population. The country uses a constitutional monarchy government (Bosworth et al., 2018). The leader of the country is the Queen. Nevertheless, U.K has a prime minister position. The prime minister who acts as the government head is elected by the citizens. Also, the United Kingdom abide by a common law system that is a foundation of the United States’ law system.
According to Aliverti & Bosworth (2017), the U.K. had a population of about 66 million in 2017. This population is made of different races with the majority being Whites at 87 % and the rest being Africans descent as well as Asian British. U.K us Pound Sterling as the national currency. The country economy is market-oriented. The currency is among the largest based on nominal GDP in the world. According to the world bank, the national GDP of the United Kingdom in 2017 stood at 2.62 trillion USD representing almost 4% of the global GDP.
United Kingdom’s criminal code
The crime that I witnessed can be categorized as assault or aggravated assault. This form of assault refers to an assault that criminal laws punish more severely because of the crime seriousness (Flynn & Hodgson, 2017). The criminal and also civil law in the U.K., define assault as an attempt towards initiating an offensive with another individual. In reality, in the United Kingdom, common assault does not necessarily implicate definite physical assault. Also, the assault is considered as a crime and a tort in the United Kingdom. In this case, the defendant might be indicted with civil liability. The criminal code in the U.K. classifies assault based on the intention of the crime.
Individual rights that the United States grants criminal suspects
Right to silence
This right protects a defendant from remaining silent penalties during the proceedings related to crime. Also, it is known as the privilege against self-incrimination (Boister, 2018). Right to silence was established under common law. Common law was established on the basis of the incompetency of defendant ideas to give out evidence. It is unlawful for a defendant to be forced to give their response during the trial.
Right to counsel
How police treat the defendant in the United Kingdom
After a criminal act is reported in the United Kingdom, the police commence an investigation and after concluding with the investigation, the police proceed and arrest the criminal. In case the evidence results to enough evidence, the police proceed with their recommendation to have the defendant charged with a certain offense. In addition, in the United Kingdom, the police determine whether the defendant is to be held in custody and wait for the trial or to release the defendant with a condition to pay bail as the case proceeds (Aliverti & Bosworth, 2017). Nevertheless, the police are required to seek the magistrate direction based on the provided information by the defense solicitor, police, prosecutor and the probation officer.
Similarities and differences between the police culture
In both the United Kingdom and the United States, police recruits are required to go through police college for an extensive training program. After graduation, the recruits are assigned under different capacities in law enforcement department. Moreover, in both nations, police constable collaborates with senior officers for a certain period of time before being assigned their tasks (Bosworth et al., 2018). Also, the constable officer is closely monitored during this stage and their performances are reviewed on a regular basis for two years.
On the other hand, there are differences between the police culture in these countries. During defendant’s prosecution, in the United States, police are required to hire a solicitor to help in prosecuting the case. However, in the United States, this role is conducted by attorneys hired by the government at different levels. In addition, the police in the United Kingdom follows a single criminal law, which is applied across the United Kingdom. On the other hand, in the United States, criminal law is considered as a state matter. Each state has its criminal laws that state police apply when dealing with crime. Moreover, in the United Kingdom, police constable is not allowed to carry firearms unlike in the United States. Also, constable officers only drive small vehicles without persistent highway speeds, unlike the United States.
References
Aliverti, A., & Bosworth, M. (2017). Introduction: Criminal Justice Adjudication in an Age of Migration. New Criminal Law Review: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal, 20(1), 1-11.
Boister, N. (2018). An introduction to transnational criminal law. Oxford University Press.
Bosworth, M., Parmar, A., & Vázquez, Y. (Eds.). (2018). Race, criminal justice, and migration control: Enforcing the boundaries of belonging. Oxford University Press.
Flynn, A., & Hodgson, J. (Eds.). (2017). Access to justice and legal aid: comparative perspectives on unmet legal need. Bloomsbury Publishing.