Explain The Four Purposes Of Punishment

The four main purposes of punishment in the criminal justice system are:
Deterrence - this is something intended to discourage someone from commiting a crime through instilling fear as to the consequences for their actions. There are two types of deterrence - specific deterrence and general deterrence.
Retribution - its purpose of punishment is to administer justice - a deserved or morally right consequence to the offender that committed the crime.
Rehabilitation - this punishment aims to reform an offender’s behaviour from reoccurring and prevent recidivism. This is achieved by conducting sentencing options and programs including anger management courses, alcohol programs as well as drug rehabilitation and counselling programs.
Incapacitation
- this punishment aims to restrict the freedom of the offender by removing their ability to commit offences. In turn, this makes them incapable of reoffending and also aims to prevent future crimes. This approach utilises several penalties such as: community work or licence cancellation, home detention and imprisonment.
Actus reus is a term meaning the ‘guilty act’ of someone physically proceeding in the steps that create an element to a crime.
The prosecution establishes this by proving the accused carried out this act by using witness testimony and physical evidence.
Mens rea is a term meaning the ‘guilty mind’ of the accused’s mental state. The prosecution establishes this by proving that the accused to the necessary degree intended to commit the crime.
There are three main levels of mens rea which are: Intention, Recklessness, and Criminal negligence
Causation is a term referring to the relationship between the cause of the accused behaviour or actions and the effect of that, the result in committing the crime. The prosecution establishes this usually by proving the actus reus and also proving the substantial link between the act and the crime.
During the investigation process the four young people were questioned as to their knowledge of the murder. A month after the murder took place one of the teenagers was arrested and charged with murder. One of the four young people told police that David Laxale was responsible for the concluding death. This then resulted in the remaining three sixteen year olds pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Choi Kia Tang was sent to trial for the
murder.

During the investigation process police did not locate any murder weapon. There were issues with the police not following correct legal processes in providing the alleged murderer Tang with a guardian when under 18 years of age.The investigation was not thoroughly undertaken in regards to follow up and interview of the person whom the phone call was made to by Tang after the murder.

Roles of personnel in court
The role of the prosecution in the sentencing process is to present all the supporting evidence to the court.
The prosecution relied on the claims of Tang’s companions all saying that Tang was responsible for the murder of Laxale.

The role of the defence is to present the evidence in court that enables the accused to appear innocent and to challenge and question the prosecution's evidence through cross examination. The defence includes barristers and solicitors who can represent the accused in court.
The Judge’s role in a case is to preside over a matter as well as maintaining order in the courtroom and overseeing proceedings. After the verdict is decided the judge will hand down the sentencing and rulings.
The committal hearing was held on the 24th of March 1999
Police have special powers in the duties they are required to perform and along with that power comes the responsibility in the maintenance of public order and the detection and prevention of crime.

The public grants the police power in order to keep society feeling safe however, the powers have to be limited. These limitations are essential to enable an accused to be treated fairly in our criminal justice system. For example, police cannot just walk into a person’s house without a warrant to arrest them if they suspect they have committed a crime. This forces police to have to provide sufficient evidence to a magistrate that they believe a person is guilty before they can just take action against someone. This provides a level of protection to the public from police abusing their power.
The law however, recognises that the public need to feel safe and therefore, provides police with the power to enter a premises in order to prevent a breach of the peace. This protects people within a house and is especially essential for domestic situations where police believe an assault may be occurring.
The law also grants to the police power if they obtain a warrant in order to enter premises and search for wanted offenders, items such as stolen property and drug paraphernalia, etc. This power allows the public to feel that police can endeavour to be able to locate offenders when they have sufficient evidence at hand. For example, if police believe that an offender has stolen property eg. jewellery, and has hidden the property within a premises if police have a search warrant then the police have the power to enter that premises and search, locate and seize that property. Also if police believe that an offender is hiding within a premises an arrest warrant allows the police to force entry into that premises to locate and arrest that offender and bring them before the court to face their charges.