Global Perspectives Assessment

 Global Perspectives Assessment

Criminal justice is the formal institutions and processes established to try, treat and punish law violators. The main components of the criminal justice system include correlational agencies, courts, and law enforcement. It is the role of police officers to maintain order and arrest law violators. They are then taken to court and those who are found guilty are fined or imprisoned. The process begins when the offender is arrested by the police officers and the investigation is done before being taken in various trial stages. All practices, policies, and procedures implemented in the criminal justice system are controlled by the court to ensure they do not go against or violate the constitution. Today many changes have been experienced in the criminal justice system due to globalization. This paper aims to assess how globalization has impacted the criminal justice system in the United States. The second section compares and contrasts various international criminal justice systems. The paper also discusses the impact of cybercrime and technology on justice systems and differentiating the policing systems. The last section identified major crimes and criminal issues which impact criminal justice systems globally.

The Impact of Globalization on the Criminal Justice System in the United States

Globalization is a common phenomenon and its impacts have been experienced for the last few decades. The criminal justice system is one of the sectors that have been affected by globalization in various ways. It is true globalization has some positive impacts such as increasing interconnectedness and interdependence which have some negative outcomes. For instance, globalization has allowed individuals from different countries to interact freely for various purposes such as business (Álvarez & Urbina, 2018). However, some individuals take that advantage to carry out illegal businesses such as fraud, human trafficking, money laundering, and weapons trafficking among others. Therefore, globalization forced the United States to develop strategies for addressing international crimes. Initially, many criminals used to threaten security because the criminal justice system in the United States could not regulate activities that were carried out outside the borders. However, the legislative, administrative, judicial, and the United States law enforcement personnel managed to establish various bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force and the Homeland Security Act among others to address the issues of international crimes.

Another impact is that globalization has encouraged the United States to continue with the practice of death penalties. This is due to the increasing number of crime cases that were brought by globalization (Ford, 2022). However, many individuals have argued that the death penalty is a violation of human rights according to the 8th Amendment. The last effect of globalization is that it has created a punitive criminal justice system in the United States. One of the primary roles of the criminal justice system in the United States is to punish offenders. For instance, the United States developed a Trafficking Victims Act that had tough policies for addressing internal crimes.

Comparing and Contrasting the International Criminal Justice Systems

Civil Law and Common Law

The primary similarity between civil law and common law is that both systems share the same sources of law. The two systems solve issues by approaching regulations in different ways. One of the differences is that civil law is applied in counties like Germany, Spain, China, African nations, Japan, and South America whereas the common law is applied in India, England, Canada, and the United States (Asasriwarnia & Jandra, 2018). Another difference is that civil law is used in determining administrative court matters whereas common law is applied in ruling present and future cases. Lastly, civil law is inquisitorial but common law is adversarial. This means that in civil law, it is only the judges who are supposed to ask questions but in common law, lawyers can ask questions and demand evidence.

Islamic Law and Socialist Law Traditions 

The primary similarity between the two laws is that both are created to maintain order on basis of the legal traditions and needs of all individuals. The difference between the two laws is that Islamic law was given by God and it is published in Koran. In contrast, socialist law was made by ordinary people (Asasriwarnia & Jandra, 2018). Another significant difference is that no human being can challenge Islamic law because it came from God but a human being can challenge socialist law.

The Impact of Cybercrime and Technology on the Worldwide Justice Systems

Today, technology is in every sector including justice systems worldwide. However, being a legal system does not mean it is immune to some of the challenges that result from cybercrime and advanced technology. Cybercrime is one of the challenges that resulted from globalization and it is hard to control it. One impact of cybercrime and technology is that criminals can access a computer system illegally because all computers are connected by a network. Another impact is some countries are in danger of leaking sensitive information to unauthorized criminals because they do not have enough funds to develop cyber-crime laws. Other countries do not have qualified professionals to update their systems due to the policies of current laws (Chudasama & Solanki, 2021). Therefore, it becomes challenging for judges and prosecutors to fight cybercrimes.

Policing Systems on Worldwide Scale

The primary role of police officers worldwide is to maintain law and order. However, some differences can be noted between different systems depending on organizational size, available resources, and location. Another difference is based on whether the policing system is centralized, semi-centralized, or decentralized (Kaganovska et al., 2020). In a centralized police system, the institution is centrally commanded and controlled. Examples of countries with a centralized police system include Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Chile. Some countries like Japan and Brazil have a semi-centralized police system which means they experience indirect command. Other countries like Pakistan, India, and the United States have a decentralized form of the police system. In those countries, the operational control and command are meant for the state government.

Major Crimes and Criminal Issues with a Global Impact on Justice Systems and Processes

Genocide

Genocide is a systematic and deliberate destruction of a certain group of people as a result of their race, nationality, religion, or ethnicity. The facts presented in the international law suggested that genocide is a crime against humanity. Rwanda is among the countries that were reported to have experienced cases of genocide. For example, in 1994, a plane was shot in Kigali and all passengers died (Bolin, 2019). However, the government was not able to identify the individuals who were involved in that incident. On the following day, Agathe Uwiliyingiyimana who was a minister was assassinated but his murder was linked with the idea of eliminating Hutu and Tutsi politicians. The crime continues for some days and more than eight hundred individuals were killed. That incident forced the United Nations Security Council to establish the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the offenders were arrested.

Terrorism  

Most terrorism crimes are carried out by a group of people to create panic in people. Somalia is among the Islamic countries that are well known for having repeated cases of terrorism (Levy & Yusuf, 2021). In Somalia, there is a group of young men named Al-Shabab and they are known for conducting terrorist attacks around the region. Since Al-Shabab started attacking even the neighboring countries like Kenya, the United Nations Security Council allowed the African Union to maintain peace in Somalia. The primary responsibility of the union was to protect the country’s government. Some of the military forces that participated in maintaining peace in Somalia include Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, and Djibouti. The United States has recently been showing interest in helping fight the bad behaviors of Al-Shabaab.

War crimes

War crimes involve violating laws of war by intentionally killing individuals taking hostage, destroying property, and sexual violence among other illegal activities. The recent war crime is between Russia and Ukraine (Roithmaier, 2022). This is a war that has continued for some time due to political differences and power. Recently, both countries have been using deadly weapons such as missiles to attack each other and many people are killed every day. That war is impacting the justice systems because developed countries including the United States suggest that Russia and Ukraine are violating humanitarian law.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is one of the major crimes that has been reported in the United States. Reports show that approximately thirty million women, men, and children are victims of sexual exploitation and forced labor globally. This is one of the major criminal issues that the United States criminal justice system is trying to address every day (Bonilla & Mo, 2019). Lawmakers have been trying their best to shape programs, laws, and policies to reduce those cases and protect the victims.

Drug Trafficking

Drug trafficking is the illegal selling of unauthorized drugs to people. Drug trafficking is also another major affecting the United States. In 2019, more than seventy-five thousand individuals were arrested and taken to prison after being involved in drug trafficking cases (Finklea, 2019). Drug crime is also another challenge impacting the criminal justice system in the United States. This is because the cases of drug trafficking increase every day. Therefore, professionals are working to improve the current laws and policies.

Conclusion

It is the role of police officers to maintain order and arrest law violators. Today many changes have been experienced in the criminal justice system due to globalization. The criminal justice system is one of the sectors that have been affected by globalization in various ways. Globalization has encouraged the United States to continue with the practice of death penalties. One of the differences is that civil law is applied in counties like Germany, Spain, China, African nations, Japan, and South America whereas the common law is applied in India, England, Canada, and the United States. The difference between the two laws is that Islamic law was given by God and it is published in Koran. In contrast, socialist law was made by ordinary people. One impact of cybercrime and technology is that criminals can access a computer system illegally because all computers are connected by a network. Police systems are based on whether the policing system is centralized, semi-centralized, or decentralized. Some of the major crimes and issues include genocide, terrorisms, war crimes, human trafficking and drug trafficking. 

References

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Álvarez, S. E., & Urbina, M. G. (Eds.). (2018). Immigration and the law: Race, citizenship, and social control. University of Arizona Press.

Bolin, A. (2019). Dignity in death and life: Negotiating agaciro for the nation in preservation practice at Nyamata Genocide Memorial, Rwanda. Anthropological Quarterly, 92(2), 345-374. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/729301/summary

Bonilla, T., & Mo, C. H. (2019). The evolution of human trafficking messaging in the United States and its effect on public opinion. Journal of public policy, 39(2), 201-234. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-public-policy/article/evolution-of-human-trafficking-messaging-in-the-united-states-and-its-effect-on-public-opinion/E4EFA5D49DDCCC943856B8F07A899162

Chudasama, D., & Solanki, L. (2021). Cyber Crimes and Challenges Faced by Criminal Justice System. International Journal of Information Security and Software Engineering, 7(1), 6-12p. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dhaval-Chudasama/publication/353192815_Cyber_Crimes_and_Challenges_Faced_by_Criminal_Justice_System/links/60ec4efd9541032c6d331f30/Cyber-Crimes-and-Challenges-Faced-by-Criminal-Justice-System.pdf

Finklea, K. (2019). Illicit drug flows and seizures in the United States: What do we [not] know. Retrieved January, 3, 2020. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20190703_R45812_3371b585a0cd2b25793f16fafc762c79fb32836d.pdf

Ford, L. M. C. (2020). Exempting the severely mentally ill from the death penalty in the United States of America: the concept of human dignity (Doctoral dissertation, University of Birmingham). http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/10576/

Kaganovska, T. E., Buhaichuk, K. L., Vasyliev, V. M., & Serohin, V. O. (2020). Foreign Experience of Staffing of the National Police of Ukraine at the Regional Level and the Possibility of its use. Amazonia Investiga, 9(25), 500-506. https://www.amazoniainvestiga.info/index.php/amazonia/article/view/1102

Levy, I., & Yusuf, A. (2021). How do terrorist organizations make money? Terrorist funding and innovation in the case of al-Shabaab. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 44(12), 1167-1189. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1057610X.2019.1628622

Roithmaier, K. (2022). Between Relief and War Crimes:‘Humanitarian Corridors’ in the Russia-Ukraine War. https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/between-relief-and-war-crimes-humanitarian-corridors-in-the-russi