Description of how Evolution of justice and security in the 21st century balances rights and freedoms with caution and ample authority to protect the citizens, while respecting constitutional assurance concerning individual rights
The kind of justice system in the 21st century has remarkably changed if it’s compared to other centuries owing to various factors like the evolution of new technologies, establishment of new laws which give nations ideas on how to develop new ways to administer punishment to the law breakers to promote justice and security to the general public. Today many governments have resulted to implementing new reforms in the justice department after people filed complains of regular injustice and insecurity practices over the last few years. Amidst the new reforms, many countries are also trying to ensure that the rate of criminal activities has reduced so that every citizen enjoys the freedom of living in a crime free country.
The United States of America serves as a good example as they established new ant terrorist laws to help them curb terrorist activities and promote quality security to American citizens. Many states have also resulted to enacting a reformed constitution that contributes to better justice and security services to all the people. One way of making sure that the public is in support with administrative functions in the justice system is by ensuring there is balance in the system.
Balance serves as a channel in administrative decisions for justice and security operations
According to the human rights watch (1998), the most important concept in criminal justice is balance, as it helps in making administrative decisions for all the operations regarding security and justice measures. The U.S government has enacted laws that support equal power sharing and equal resource sharing around the states to promote justice in the country. It has also listed constitutional rights that include individual rights, which governs the people and protect them through having a guarantee of a fair trial. The courts and the public domain have demarcated the scope of protected rights. Administrative decisions for justice and security operations are sometimes causing threats to civil liberties posed by broad governmental investigative and detention powers and abuses of power by administrative officials.
Assessing the issues associated with the legal environment in which justice and security administration operates.
There are a number of issues surrounding the legal environment of justice and security administration, some of the major issues include; retributive measures, fairness, mutual understanding, natural laws and authority. Every individual should be aware that for every action an individual participates in, there is always some kind of reaction that must equal the action taken making administration of justice being an absolute concept. The natural laws help the people understand that they should be ready to face the consequences that follow after taking part in a certain action. Authority also forms an environment in which justice works.
Authority includes all personnel’s responsible in the administering of justice like the police officers, correctional administrators Nemeth, C. P. (2005). The police officers are responsible in maintaining order and administering security to the citizens while the correctional officers are in charge of ensuring that prison policies are followed by both the prisoners and the officers. Prisoners are also regarded as human beings and even though they find themselves in the wrong hand of the law, they ought to be treated with some dignity as they also have their rights.
Another issue concerning the legal environment is mutual understanding. A country’s justice system should implement and establish laws that do not favor anyone at all; instead the law should be equal to every single person. This will help the country shun away discrimination at every level in the society Nemeth, C. P. (2005). It is also the responsibility of the government to make sure that resources are equally distributed for the benefit of all its citizens including the fair participation of public activities by all members. The stipulated rights should be equal even to the disadvantaged people in the society like the disabled people and the poor. With mutual understanding, it is possible for the government to at least see that each individual is properly represented by those concerned.
Retributive justice is also a factor that concerns legal environment. This is a justice theory that tries to bring out the balance in the justice systems through rectifying situations that bring about justice imbalance. This theory acts on the principle of an offender has to give back what he/she takes from the injured party. Also when administering any form of punishment, the level should equally serve the offending behavior.
The punishment being given to offenders by the authority in charge of justice and security is important in promoting justice in the society. Fair investigations should be carried out and by all means the people who are responsible for caring out the investigations should not be biased as it devastates justice in society.
How changes in technology and mass communication affect justice and security measures
In the current era, Information and communication technologies have been introduced into every phase of the justice system. Owing to the changes in technology and mass communication, the justice systems of most countries have greatly been affected. Many criminal justice systems are using information technology in their decision making process in a way trying to improve and maintain justice in the society.
The advances in communication technology have significantly reformed the judicial processes since 1980s Marion, N. E. & Oliver, W. M. (2006). For example the DNA technology can now be used to accurately identify criminals and clear suspect’s name especially those who have been accused falsely, in an incident that happened in New York City in 1999 where a man was prosecuted for committing more than 22 sexual assaults and robberies through a DNA test, this shows how technology has advanced and affected positively the commissioning of justice in the society.
One important factor that positively arises due to communication changes is that today criminals don’t have the means to outrun the law this is according to Marion, N. E. & Oliver, W. M. (2006). With the new televised technology, citizens are being made aware of the criminals or fugitives wanted by the state it is also easier for the judicial body to make timely decisions on pending cases and keep records of these cases in the computer databases for safe keeping.
The criminal justice systems now boast of new ways that incorporate all departments that deal with the system. The judicial sector is being encouraged to use information technology while conducting judicial procedures to improve justice administration. The court leaders are also being advised to carefully use the technology in a fair way and also for the right purposes to promote better balancing in the justice system of the country. Technology has also improved the information flow as users of the judicial system can easily access information and retrieve past cases.
Individual rights versus the needs of the justice system
Issues involving citizen rights and maintaining order and security have been debated on for a very long time. These issues arise as a result of the government not being keen in providing the citizens with enough protection and respect as stipulated in the constitution. Private security is vital to make certain that the security and safety of persons and property including the sensitive corporate information are properly handled. Many people don’t realize the importance of the bill of rights. It is challenging to provide a fine balance between protecting an individual civil rights while still trying to set up a safe and secure environment for the rest of the public.
An individual right can be defined as what a person advocates as moral principle in a social context. We all need the freedom to do certain activities, to act rationally towards other fellow human beings. But there have to be limits as to the extents an individual can act in regards to the general public Schmalleger, F. (2010).
Every individual enjoys the right to life, liberty, and owning property and to be happy among other rights but at times public orders precedents over individual rights especially when people decide to take advantage over their freedom rights. The reason as to why people have their rights is so that they are not mistreated by the government or any other individual or by the justice system Schmalleger, F. (2010).
The American constitution is said to have about two thirds of the bill of rights advocated to individual rights to make people happy even to those who are accused of committing certain crimes. Although this is the case, there are times when the government can suppress that freedom with the aim of a common good. People need to know that the government is responsible in seeing that every person is satisfied with the services proved by the justice and security personnel without favors of a particular group of people of some individuals.
Conclusion
Justice and security are key concerns in every state government and the citizens. By implementing all means possible to deliver justice and security for all should be the priority of every government. Each individual should show support in the delivery of better justice and security measures as a solution to providing balance in the justice system. The government’s duty of providing effective court security is an interesting observation of how departments in the government interrelate with each other. With the help of new communication technologies, the justice department is said to evolve even better to provide much better services to the citizens.
Balance in justice systems is important and the government is compelled to foresee that there is balance in justice and security administration and that the authority in charge has established laws that are fair to all citizens.
References
Kenneth J. Peak (2010). Justice Administration: Police, Courts, and Corrections Management, Sixth Edition. Published by Prentice Hall.
Marion, N. E. & Oliver, W. M. (2006). The public policy of crime and criminal justice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Nemeth, C. P. (2005). Private security and the law, (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier.
Schmalleger, F. (2010). Criminal law today: An introduction with capstone cases. (4th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.