The LAWS 3002 assignment is a case study of the CJS (police, courts, prisons) in an assigned country that will be done as a class presentation.
Some basic questions to review. Please note you are not required to answer all as some countries will have more information available than others. The main goal is to compare and contrast your assigned country with the Canadian CJS.
- What is the legal tradition? (Common Law, Civil Tradition, Islamic/Religious, Eastern Asian). What is the main source(s) of law? (Criminal Code? Case law? Religious book? Other? Combination?)
- Police: How are police trained/deployed? Police strength calculated per 100,000? Police clearance rate? Is crime increasing? Decreasing? Staying about the same? Main issues police face in this country? (e.g. police corruption? accountability? substance abuse? mental illness? ). What is unique or worth noting about police in your assigned country? What is the system of accountability or oversight of the police?
- Courts: How are prosecutors and judges trained, chosen? Levels of court? Adversarial or inquisitorial court system? Main issues facing the judiciary? (e.g. court delay? wrongful convictions? corruption? ) What is unique or worth noting about the judiciary in your assigned country? What is the system of accountability or oversight of the judiciary?
- Prisons. Incarceration rate? Is it increasing? Decreasing? Staying the same? Recidivism rate? Demographic profile of who is in prison? What programs, if any, exist in their prisons? Main issues facing the correctional system in your assigned country? What is the system of oversight or accountability of the correctional system?
