Crime report

   Crime report

Executive summary

People tend to commit a crime by going against the provisions of the criminal law. Rape and sexual harassments are frequent crimes committed in the today’s society. This has been due to change in society view on crime together with an increase in moral decay among our youth. However, the judiciary has provided a way to solve this problem through the criminal justice system in courts. Crime report compiles official information and data on crimes in the country. In the United States, it is published annually by FBI. Its major purpose is to ensure improved and publish the information and data that is to be collected and eventually used in the determining the crime pattern of a country. Crime report programs help the law enforcers to obtain all the relevant information and collect the data to figure out the crime pattern in the country where this crime is happening.  This report will highlight aspects of the criminal justice system and criminal law.  The report will, therefore, give an overview of the aspects of the criminal justice system and criminal law. The report will try to explain what a crime is by defining both Mens Rea and Actus Reus. Also, explanation of the criminal justice system will be provided with the role of the court, judge, CPS, and Jury included. In addition, the report will explore the legal definition of rare in accordance with the sexual offenses act 2003. Furthermore, the report will explain what the Burden of Proof is by providing a case that applies the concept of burden of proof..

The Scenario:

‘Helen and Peter are two students at the University of Sunnyfields. They are in Year Two of a three-year degree studying law. Helen is 20 and Peter are 21. During their first semester in Year One, they were in a sexual relationship with each other but broke up amicably at the end of the academic year. At the Year Two Christmas Party over three bottles of wine, they reminisced about the good times they had previously shared. On leaving the party they found it had been snowing heavily. Peter was unable to get a taxi home and Helen invited him to stay at her apartment which was close by. The morning after, Helen awoke to find herself and Peter in bed naked. Later that day she telephoned the police saying that Peter had raped her. Peter under question said that it was not raped as she had consented to sex.’

1. Crime

Williams, (1995), pp107 defined crime as an act that violates the provisions of the law and is punishable by law. Also, Reid (2015), p40 proposed that crime is wrongdoing classified by Congress or the state as a misdemeanor or felony as an offense against state laws or a public law. Reid went further to provide the main types of crime as battery, homicide, rape, false imprisonment and assault.

• Rape

Rape is an example of a crime. It is among violent crimes but it differs from the rest to some extent. This is because all violent crimes causes harm to human body but rape extensively destroys a person. Definition of rape differs from country to country or from state to the other. Therefore, rape can be defined as unwanted or forced sexual intercourse (Dempsey 2016, pp.509). It takes place between men, women, children or even the elderly, disabled and even able.

According to Donson & O’Sullivan (2016) p33, there are two elements of crime the mens rea and actus reus.

• Mens rea

Mens rea is originally translated from Latin to mean “guilty mind”. According to Donson & O’Sullivan (2016) p34, it is an element of a crime that constitutes an intended crime or willingly wrongdoing. In this case, the defendant commits a crime knowingly. In addition, men’s Rea can be said to be the state of mind of an individual who commits a crime and was not needed for liability. According to Child (2017), pp.320, in sexual offense, men’s rea is a major factor in determining whether or not the crime took place.

• Actus reus

The second element of crime is Actus reus, which is a Latin word meaning “guilty act”. Actus reus is used to describe the physical act of a crime in contrary to the mental state of the defendant or the accused (Asencion 2017, p.35). This is an act of crime committed under an unconscious state. The accused fails to prevent a crime from occurring, hence committing a crime unwillingly. Actus Reus is evidence in this scenario in the sense that both Peter and Hellen were drunk and both could not have the power of preventing the offense from happening.

1.4 Burden of proof

As per Walton (2014), pp. 70, the burden of proof is the duty in criminal cases that involve resting first on the prosecution, offering proof that will convince the court of the truth of the crime. In this scenario, Hellen had the obligation of proofing to the criminal justice system that indeed Patrick raped her.

2. The Role of CPS in criminal case

In Wales and England, CPS plays a major role in prosecuting the alleged criminal offenders (Green 1989, p.91). According to Hutton, Cranston, & Clarke (2014), p.54-56, there are for major responsibilities of CPS in criminal cases including; providing advice to the police on possible prosecutions, to make decision concerning criminal charges of a suspect upon investigation, prepare cases for courts, and prosecute cases at both Crown and magistrates’ courts. In addition, CPS is entrusted with the role of deciding whether an individual should be charged responsible for the crime and if so what could be the charge for that crime and authorizes those charges to be imposed (Green 1989, pp.95). Also, after police have collected the evidence and the suspect is already in custody or bailed out they send them to the CPS who reviews the evidence provided and determine whether that case qualifies for prosecution.

2.1 Roles of Judges

In criminal cases, the judges play many roles which include; the interpretation of the laws that govern criminal cases. Also, they assess the proof presented in court and determine whether the proof is credible and which witnesses are saying the truth about the incidence (Lorizio & Stramaglia 2016, pp.500). Moreover, after assessing the evidence they then apply the law to these proofs and establish whether the suspect is guilty or not. Additionally, the judges are the impartial and independent decision makers.

2.2 Roles of Jury

In criminal cases, the jury sits in the court and listens to all evidence presented by both defense and prosecution. After listening to the case, the jury retires from the courtroom and makes decisions of the guilty or not guilty depending on the charges and evidence provided (Simmons 2016, pp. 519).

3.0 How rape is regarded in the UK

In the UK, rape is regarded as among the crimes which are less reported by 1986. This was due to the social sigma built by the victims of rape. Those who were victims of rape feared to report their cases due to fear of degradation and most of them believed that the offenders would not be convicted due to its complexity (Gunn & Linden, 1997 p.157; Chapleau, Russel, & Oswald 2008, p.610). According to Grubb & Turner (2012), p.42, the society stereotypes constructed victim blaming around female since it was assumed those victims were mostly blamed for their own calamity. Since the society was prone to victim blaming, women from young age feared rape and were socialized to rectify their behaviors so as to reduce their rape risk. These ideologies originated from rape myths, attitudes and beliefs although they were incorrect. However, they were extensively held with an aim of condoning sexual aggression of male towards women (Lonsway & Fitzgerald 1994, p.134; Burt 1980, p.217). According to Julie Waterson, in her article written in June 1986 about rape: the socialist answer, the society treated raped women with hypocrisy, distrust, and disdain. This was true from newspapers to the courts and church. Also, the society regarded rape as legally impossible in marriage, where more than 60% of victims of rape have their past sexual history handled in court. The society where 82% of the rape cases brought up in court consent to a question-did she really says no? In addition, the society taught women to blame themselves for rape. The question would often be ‘was is because of something I did/said’, or maybe if I would not have taken that drink it would not have happened. This attitude was embodied in every institution around rape.

This can be proofed from a 1982 case of Ipswich Judge who found a raped women guilty of contributory negligence since the woman had been hitch-hiking at the time she was raped. Another judge in the Old Bailey in a 1976 case said that it is clear specifically women and young boys are liable to invent stories be untruthful.” However, society’s views have changed today since those past myths surrounding rape have been broken. Many have been frightened by the recent statistics following the exposure of rape. Men are blamed in any rape case and have been proposed to hold general control over the crime. According to Brownmiller in her book “Against our Will’ she proposed rape intimidation process consciously used by men put women in a condition of fear. This can be true to some extent since men are the one who rapes women and assaults them sexually. However, they do not rape women as part of an overall conspiracy to subjugate them, as a reflection of their overall control inside society (Waterson 1986).

3.1. Should anonymity be granted to a man accused of rape before he is convicted?

Rape suspects should not remain anonymous before they are convicted. According to Levenson (2009), P.42, rules of anonymity round rape allegations must be defended since person can be suspected to have committed a rape crime, charged, or even convicted of the crime but after all his normal life resumes without disgrace. Sexual offenses can be termed as violent as other crimes of violence but they are different in one way or the other (Booth 2013). Another kind of violence can cause harm to an individual’s body more, but rape can extensively destroy that person. Also, Booth (2013) argued that identities of rape victims should be kept secret not to be reported to the public. Around 74% of people coincided with this assertion but supported anonymity for the accused. However, this number included more women than men. More men supported anonymity for the victim than women. Despite the fact that rape is a destructive crime, Ellie Levenson made an astonishing comment in her book known as The Noughtie Girl’s Guide to Feminism that “making rape to be a worst thing that a woman can face is an injustice thing, since it just a penis (Levenson 2009, p.42).” Levenson tried to make rape cases simpler and argued that they should not be made more violent. Jill Saward was a victim of rape in 1986. She supported an idea of granting anonymity to the suspects of rape. She was against the idea of Maura McGowan, the criminal barrister who was against the naming of the rapists to avoid lasting stigma after being cleared (Booth 2013). Jill Saward argued that the idea of McGowan would reduce the chances of convicting serial rapists and place women in danger of rape (Booh 2013). She proposed that, in order to reduce the risk of rape, women should know a man who had been accused of rape. The society should take victims view for justice to prevail. This is because of a victim the one who is humiliated in this case. Men who are suspected of rape should be granted an anonymity to minimize rape cases.

Not all rape is the same since it depends on the circumstance of rape. Also, the age factor is essential in determining the intensity of rape crime. When an adult rapes a youth should be treated differently than when a husband rapes his wife. In addition, rape between partners or inmates may not be termed to be a rape indeed. In the case scenario of Peter, and Hellen cannot be regarded as a rape offense since Hellen and Peter were previously partners. Also, there is no evidence that Peter forced Hellen to sex and yet both were drunk. Additionally, Hellen is the one who invited Peter into her apartment.

3.3. Support available to rape victims

Throughout the UK there are services that provide support and counseling to male victims. Also, there are several websites providing online support to rape victims. The government has also provided telephone helplines to report any rape crime. Furthermore, there are free hotlines that operate 24 hours per week and offer anonymous, confidential and secure crisis support for rape victims and sexual assault victims as well as their friends and families. Several campaigns have been made to educate rape victims on how to stay with the issue and a way to seek justice.

Bibliography

Lorizio, M. and Stramaglia, A., 2016. The Role of Judges in the Performance of Italian

Courts. Business and Economic Research, 6(1), pp.492-504.

Simmons, R., 2016. The Role of the Prosecutor and the Grand Jury in Police Use of Deadly

Force Cases: Restoring the Grand Jury to Its Original Purpose. Clev. St. L. Rev., 65,           p.519.

Walton, D., 2014. Burden of proof, presumption and argumentation. Cambridge University

Press. Pp. 65-78.

Williams, G., 1955. 7 The Definition of Crime. Current Legal Problems, 8(1), pp.107-130.

Reid, S.T., 2015. Crime and criminology. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.

Booth, R. (2013). Rape suspects ‘should not be named’. [online] the Guardian. Available at:             https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/17/rape-ukcrime [Accessed 10 Feb. 2018].

Brownmiller, S., 2013. Against our will: Men, women and rape. Open Road MediaGunn, R. and Linden, R., 1997. The impact of law reform on the processing of sexual assault           cases. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 34(2), pp.155-       174.

Asencion, M.L., 2017. Classified Websites, Sex Trafficking, and the Law: Problem and    Proposal. Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev., 12, p.227.

Waterson, J. 1986. Rape: the socialist answer.

Levenson, E., 2009. The Noughtie Girl’s Guide to Feminism. Oneworld.

Chapleau, K.M., Oswald, D.L. and Russell, B.L., 2008. Male rape myths: The role of gender,       violence, and sexism. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(5), pp.600-615.

Lonsway, K.A. and Fitzgerald, L.F., 1994. Rape myths. In review. Psychology of women             quarterly, 18(2), pp.133-164.

Donson, F. and O’Sullivan, C., 2016. Building block or stumbling block? Teaching actus reus       and mens rea in criminal law. The Teaching of Criminal Law: The Pedagogical        Imperatives, p.21.

Burt, M.R., 1980. Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of personality and social psychology, 38(2), p.217.

Green, A., 1989. The Crown Prosecution Service. Medico-Legal Journal, 57(2), pp.77-92.

Hutton, J., Cranston, R. and Clarke, C., 2014. Provision of therapy for child witnesses prior to a   criminal trial: Practice guidance. The Crown Prosecution Service.

Child, J., 2017. Understanding ulterior mens rea: future conduct intention is conditional

intention. The Cambridge Law Journal, 76(2), pp.311-336.