Criminal Justice Challenges in Rape and Sexual Assault Case Essay Sample

Introduction To Criminal Justice Crises Of Rape And Serious Sexual Assault

In light of the significant assessment that chiefly concentrates on the key theme of crises concerning criminal justice related to serious sexual assault and rape an attempt has been made to formulate a critical report that evaluates the possible issues concerning serious sexual assault and rapes in England and Wales. Further, the report has been developed in such a manner that it seeks to address the chasm between the rate of conviction and the rate of reports related to sexual offenses in England and Wales. The central aim behind the development of this critical report is to develop a deep comprehension of the “Criminal Justice System (CJI)” in England and Wales and the significance of the policies related to criminal justice (Downes and Newburn, 2022). In this regard, considering the role of a research assistant working for the “Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)” a critical analysis has been conducted regarding the persecution of serious sexual assaults and rapes under the jurisdiction of Wales and England.

A criminal justice system resembles the government agencies that are accountable for the correction of criminal conduct, adjudication of crime, and the enforcement of law for the prevention of crime rates, and punishing criminals. In consideration of the “Criminal Justice System (CJI)” and the rising rate of crimes towards women in terms of sexual assault and rape, the criminal justice policy bears great significance because the policies help in ensuring that society members are conforming and complaint to the laws and social control is maintained harmoniously amidst the society (George and Ferguson, 2021). The policies are also significant in tracing the changes in crime rates and types, addressing the causes behind the crime occurrences, serving justice to the victims, and protecting the rights of the victims. The criminal justice system in “England and Wales'' can be identified as the historical pioneer concerning the “Common law type” of the legal system. In the jurisdiction of England, the laws transformed and the courts expanded in accordance with the individual decisions made in different cases (Walker et al. 2021). In fact, judicial decisions have been found to be influencing legal rules and perceptions. The “Criminal Justice System” under the legal jurisdiction of “England and Wales” has been recognized as the collective body accountable for supervising justice in the United Kingdom and involves several legal institutions like the prison system, crown prosecution services, and the police.

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The Evaluation of Different Principles and Types of Law Applicable to Serious Sexual Assault and Rape under the Jurisdiction of England and Wales

Sexual assault and rape are considered intense legal issues and crimes that significantly affect the psychological, societal, and legal aspects in England and Wales. The violence and crimes related to sexual assault can disrupt the prestige of the whole community, can emotionally damage individuals, and can even put the physical integrity of individuals at stake. In the legal system of England and Wales, rape or sexual assault is identified as the penetration of sexual or reproductive organs without the consent of the other party, which breaches the physical integrity and sexual autonomy of an individual (Brunton-Smith et al. 2022). In the government of England and Wales, Rape is considered as a severe criminal offense for which there are suitable laws and regulations. Although crimes related to rape and sexual assault have been found to be prevalent in the United Kingdom and the lack of reporting of such crimes due to social stigma, loss of face, and lack of trust in the justice system, has negatively contributed to offering support and justice to the victims.

However, the stern and evolved legal framework of the United Kingdom has been found to be quite effective recently for the effective prosecution of the sexual assaults in England and Wales. In this regard, there are different types of principles and laws have been formulated by the government of “England and Wales”. For instance, the “Sexual Offences Act of 1956” is deemed one of the chief laws for sexual assaults, which advocates that legal prosecutors need to consider sentencing authority, criminal description, time restrictions, and legal difficulties while selecting charges (legislation.gov.uk, 1956). Moreover, a youngster's provocation for committing severe indecent behaviour with a victim, person, or defendant is a punishable offense under the “1960 Act” of the United Kingdom government. The analysis of the statutory law in “England and Wales” has revealed that the chief law that advocates and supervises rape and heinous sexual crime in the UK is the “Sexual Offences Act of 2003” and this legislation tends to highlight different sexual crimes, sexual assaults, and rapes (legislation.gov.uk, 2003).

The aforementioned law also focuses on legally defining these sexual crimes and determines the important aspects required for the conviction of the criminals and the punishments that are to be charged to the criminal (Brooks, 2020). According to the “Sexual Offences Act of 2003”, any sort of sexual assault towards children is segmented into different groups of age such as young adults who are aged between 16 years to 18 years and teenagers who are aged between 13 years to 16 years and the “Section 5 and Section 6” of the act marks the sexual assault on a minor who is under 13 years age as a serious criminal offense.

The Analysis of the Measurements to Deal with Serious Sexual Assault and Rape by English Courts including the Defendant's Right to Appeal

In consideration of the majority of cases related to rape and sexual assault, the conviction and prosecution for rape result in a sentence of prison between four years to nineteen years according to the severity of the crime. In fact, the English court considers each and every rape-related case to be prosecuted and judged in accordance with its individual merits with regard to a sentence. In terms of the maximum punishment for a sexual offense is the life imprisonment of the criminal without the opportunity of parole (Marsh and Dein, 2021). However, in consideration of rape, life imprisonment does not resemble that the criminal will be sentenced to jail for their whole life unless they have committed severely heinous crimes or in terms of rare among rarest case examples. Sexual criminals who are sentenced to life imprisonment need to spend a minimum of fifteen years before availing the possibility for parole and after receiving parole, the criminals may spend their remaining lives under close monitoring within the society.

However, if such criminals commit any other crimes or breach the terms and conditions of the parole then they will be again sent to jail by the English court. Apart from that, the penalizing for sexual assault and rape can lead to four years to nineteen years of imprisonment and can be punished with life imprisonment as well, without considering if the criminal was under the influence of any sort of substances like drugs or alcohol (George and Ferguson, 2021). On the other hand, the English court might consider the voluntary alcohol and drug usage of the offender or the criminal as the catalysts or influencing factor for the occurrence of the rape and for which a much more severe punishment can be imposed upon the defendant, as it enhances the severity of the crime. Hence, it reflects that the possibility of being charged with the maximum punishment tends to increase even if the defendant is charged with a maximum sentence as a punishment for their sexual crimes.

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In addition to this, if the defendant has been found in possession of any substance, alcohol, or drug and its addiction then the criminal's intoxication might not be considered as “voluntary” in terms of law. Moreover, in most cases, these kinds of punishment depend on several key elements such as whether the criminal is serious about taking necessary measures to treat the impacts of addiction, however pursuing this path is not easy and applicable in most of the server rape cases and crimes. On the other hand, the English court has regulated that no female will be directly penalized for rape, as rape is legally defined as committing sexual assault by one gender to another gender (Walker et al. 2021). However, if any female has been identified to be blameworthy for a sexual crime that is unwanted sexual contact and without the consent of the other, then they also fall under the category of punishment. Moreover, the sexual crimes that were committed in the previous centuries are far different than the sexual offenses of the present times. However, the previous sexual assaults were penalized under the Voluntary “Sexual Offences Act of 1956” and now the same crimes are penalized under the “Sexual Offences Act of 2003” and both of these legal regulations focus on serving justice to the victim and punishing the criminal who is accused of rape crimes.

The Exploration of the Roles of the Different Stakeholders involved in the Criminal Justice Procedure involving Cases of Serious Sexual Assault and Rape

In view of the procedures related to criminal justice that consists of different kinds of cases related to rape crimes and sexual crimes under the legal jurisdiction of “England and Wales, an acute analysis has been conducted which has helped in identifying that there are multiple stakeholders who act in a pivotal role at the varied phases related to the criminal prosecution and justice procedures. For example, the police play a critical role in the criminal justice procedure for the enactment of laws and regulations related to the crimes concerning rape and sexual crimes, and as one of the primary stakeholders in the criminal justice procedure, the injured party who are sexually harassed or molested contacts the police and registers their report (Beresford et al. 2020). The work of the police involves the accountability of lodging case reports for rape, undertaking primary inspection, accumulating the possible evidence of rape, and catching the criminal.

On the other hand, there are special forces such as the “Sexual Assault Response Team or SART” who are accountable for dealing with sensitive and severe rape cases and make sure that the inspection of such cases is done without any biases and the right of the rape victim is secured in an effective manner. The English court is also an integral part of the stakeholder in the criminal justice process who can be recognized as the advocates, magistrates, and judicial judges (Potter et al. 2020). This stakeholder also works for determining and prosecute the crimes associated with sexual assault and rape. In addition to this, the judges in the courts conduct court proceedings and trials where both the victim and the accuser are presented, and the significant evidence related t the rape cases are provided to the judge by the advocates. The judge also makes sure that the legal processes are conducted in an efficient manner so that the victim receives justice and the criminal faces punishment in accordance with the crime they have committed.

In fact, the public members who form the jury in the court are liable to distinguish whether the criminal is innocent or guilty on the basis of the evidence collected by the police. On the other hand, the “Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)” has been found to be another vital stakeholder within the domain of criminal justice procedure who is liable to review the collected evidence and consider the legal aspects for moving forward with further prosecution (Tapley, 2020). Moreover, the validity and reliability of the accumulated evidence are critically scrutinized by the legal prosecutors and based on that scrutiny they offer judgment about the punishment of penalty that is to be levied upon the main accuser for rape or sexual assault. The legal representative has also been found to be an important stakeholder within the sphere of criminal justice processes who represents both the defendant and the victim and they are known as the professionals of legal aid providers like lawyers, advocates, and attorneys (Iliadis et al. 2021). The lawyer or the legal representative who is fighting in Favor of the victim produces evidence and forms a case against the main accuser of rape in the court and legally argues with the advocate of the defendant on the basis of the eye-witnesses and evidence in order to make sure that the defendant is prosecuted in an effective way and juts prevail.

The Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System in Dealing with Serious Sexual Assault and Rape Cases through the Assessment of Prosecution Rates, Crime Rates, Reoffending Rates, Conviction Rates, and Rehabilitation Programmes

In view of deeply assessing the effectiveness of the “Criminal Justice System” in handling serious rape cases and sexual assaults, it is highly essential to deeply evaluate the rates related to rape crimes, prosecution, conviction, rehabilitation programs, and reoffending in “England and Wales”. In this regard, a lot of data and statistics related to crime rates have been evaluated and the results have revealed that around one woman in every four women is subjected to sexual assault and rape, and in an overall count around “6.54 million women” are raped as an adult. One in every six children are abused sexually. Moreover, it has also been noted that around “67,938” rape cases have been registered by the police department from the year 2022 to the year 2023 year. In consideration of this twelve-month timeline, only “2.4%” of such cases were charged with legal punishment, which is approximately “1631 cases” (rapecrisis.org.uk, 2023).

Moreover, only two in every hundred rape cases were recorded and charged by the police without being convicted. In consideration of the rape crime rates in the United Kingdom, especially in “England and Wales” it has been noted that the volume of rape offenses and crime for the year 2021 was around “61,158” and by the year 2022 the rate of crimes related to the rape and sexual assault was around “70,330” which is an increase in comparison to the previous years. Apart from that, the statistics have revealed that approximately “85,000 women” belonging to England and Wales have confronted rape and sexual crimes (criminalinjurieshelpline.co.uk, 2023). On the other hand, it has also been unveiled from the analysis that based on the year 2022 and the year 2023 there are around “3.3 sexual crimes” in every 1000 women have been recorded within the jurisdiction of “England and Wales” (statista, 2023). The reoffending rates within “England and Wales'' have been found to be around “29%” by the year 2020 and there was an increase of “2.7%” has been noted in comparison to the year of 2019 (lords library.parliament.uk, 2022). Hence, based on the above assessment of the rates and statistics related to the sexual crimes and rape, it can be easily determined that the criminal justice system in the United Kingdom is not quite effective in handling the mass volume of rapes crimes.

Conclusion

Based on the overall evaluation of the topic regarding the crises of criminal justice related to the sexual crimes and rape there are various promising insight has been acquired. The results obtained from the above analyses has assisted in developing a deep comprehension about the different laws and legal principles in the England and Wales that proctors the rape victims. On the other hand, a vivid and profound understanding has been developed regarding the possible means through which sexual crimes are handled by the English courts. Moreover, the key role played by every stakeholder in the criminal justice process has been perceived with the analyses that have been illustrated in the essay. Finally, the incompetence of the criminal justice system, to reduce the volume of rape and sexual assault has also been identified with the help of relevant data and statistics.

Reference

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