Criminal Justice System
What is the Criminal Justice System?
The criminal justice system is a system of law enforcement that is directly involved in apprehending, prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing those who are suspected or convicted of criminal offences.
In simpler terms, it is a set of government institutions and systems that aim to apprehend, prosecute, punish, and rehabilitate criminal offenders. These institutions include Police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Services (HMCTS) and Prisons.
UK Crime Facts:
8.4 million crimes were recorded against households and people aged 16+ years in England and Wales in the year ending December 2023 (Office for National Statistics, June 2023)
87,000 sexual offences against children were recorded by the Police in the UK during 2022-23 (NSPCC, 2024)
Fraud is the most common crime in the UK with 3.5 Million incidents in 2022-23 (National Crime Agency, 2024)
There were 602 murders recorded in England and Wales in 2022-23 (Statista, 2024)
Over 5 million offences recorded in the year ending March 2023 (excluding fraud and computer misuse) were assigned an outcome (Gov.UK, 2024)
For the year ending March 2023, 5.7% of crime offences resulted in a charge or summons in England and Wales, so over 90% of crime goes unsolved (Statista, 2024)
The extent of unreported crime in the UK is unknown
Crime impacts the lives of everyone in the UK in one way or another:
- directly
- as part of community safety
- financially and
- many other ways!
Crime impacts on some people more than others so let’s look at some of those groups of people…
Victims and Witnesses
Victims
Definition
A person who has suffered harm, including physical, mental or emotional harm or economic loss which was directly caused by a criminal offence;
A close relative (or a nominated family spokesperson) of a person whose death was directly caused by a criminal offence
(Crown Prosecution Service: Code of Practice for Victims of Crime 1st April 2021)
The Crysalys Foundation not only recognises family members as victims of crime but also their other loved ones including friends and or colleagues.
Being a victim of any crime can be extremely shocking and frightening.
Common feelings after being a victim of a crime include:
You feel angry, upset or experience other strong emotions
Witnesses
Definition
In law, a witness to a crime is defined as someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. (Wikipedia)
Anyone can be a witness!
Witnesses help to ensure that justice is done. As examples, if you know something about an incident you may be asked to give evidence in court for the prosecution or defence.
If you know one of the people involved in a case, you may be asked to provide evidence as a character witness, usually by the defence.
Being a witness to a crime can be a traumatic experience and have serious impacts on you including physical, mental or emotional harm or losses directly or indirectly caused by a criminal offence.
For others the experience may be stressful but not traumatic.
Being a witness and its evident impact on you can also have wider repercussions for your family and other loved ones including friends and or colleagues.
This can include vicarious / secondary trauma.
Secondary trauma means that although the original (primary) trauma happened to someone else, the impact it’s having on someone else’s life is traumatic for them too. It doesn’t mean it’s any less significant than any other kind of trauma, or any easier to deal with.
Being a witness to any crime can be extremely shocking and frightening. It can also be stressful worrying about the legal process, waiting for court dates and being at court on the day/s.
Common feelings after being a witness to a crime include:
You may feel angry, upset or experience other strong emotions.
You may feel scared.
Things can suddenly fall apart for you.
You may show physical symptoms.
Have intrusive thoughts.
Try and avoid reminders of the event.
You may feel numb or detached.
Have difficulty sleeping or concentrating.
Victims and witnesses of crime may experience trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD).
PTSD UK cites that as many as 20% of people who experience a trauma go on to develop PTSD.
Trauma
Trauma is when we experience very stressful, frightening or distressing events that are difficult to cope with or out of our control. It could be one incident, or an ongoing event that happens over a long period of time. Most of us will experience an event in our lives that could be considered traumatic. Being a victim of a crime is an example of a traumatic incident.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and CPTSD are anxiety disorders caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events. They can affect a person’s ability to work, perform day-to-day activities or relate to their family and friends. Symptoms usually appear soon after trauma.
Avoidance: Avoiding reminders of the traumatic event may include avoiding people, places, activities, objects and situations that may trigger distressing memories. People may try to avoid remembering or thinking about the traumatic event. They may resist talking about what happened or how they feel about it. For most people, these symptoms go away on their own within the first few weeks or months after the trauma. For some, the symptoms can last for many years, especially if they go untreated. Symptoms can stay at a fairly constant level of severity.
Help for Victims and Witnesses of Crime
Victim Support is the independent charity dedicated to supporting victims of crime and traumatic incidents.
Also, this site includes a UK help directory with information about lots of organisations that can help with trauma themes including depression and feeling suicidal.
Defendants
Definition
In the Criminal Procedure Rules anyone accused of a crime is called a ‘defendant’. (UK Government: Criminal Procedure Rules 2020 and Criminal Practice Directions 2023 5th October 2020)
The authority responsible for prosecuting the case in court is called the ‘prosecutor’. In most cases that will be the Crown Prosecution Service.
Being a defendant in a criminal case can be a traumatic experience and have serious impacts on you including:
Physical, mental or emotional harm or losses directly or indirectly caused by a criminal offence and or experience of the criminal justice system.
For others the experience may be stressful but not traumatic.
Being a defendant and its evident impact on you can also have wider repercussions for your family and other loved ones including friends and/or colleagues.
This can include vicarious / secondary trauma!
Secondary trauma means that although the original (primary) trauma happened to someone else, the impact it’s having on someone else’s life is traumatic for them too. It doesn’t mean it’s any less significant than any other kind of trauma, or any easier to deal with.
Being a defendant to any crime can be extremely frightening.
It can also be stressful being arrested, being in custody, concerned about the legal process, waiting for court dates and being at court on the day/s.
Research indicates that a large proportion of UK prisoners are victims or witnesses themselves long before they are defendants.
Twenty-nine per cent of SPCR (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction) prisoners stated that they had experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child. Women (53%) were more likely to report having experienced some sort of abuse than men (27%), as were prisoners from a non-BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) background (31%), compared with prisoners from a BAME background (20%) (Gov. 2022)
Over 30% of prisoners have learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
Almost 25% of the UK adult prison population have previously been in care and nearly 50% of under 21-year-olds in contact with the criminal justice system have spent time in care. This is compared to 1% of the general population. (Innovation Unit, 2023)
It is extremely rare but there are instances of wrongful convictions in the UK.
Help for Defendants of Crime
Ministry of Justice Factsheet
Family and Friends:
It is not only victims, witnesses and defendants who are affected by crime and its trauma impacts. Family and friends of victims, witnesses and defendants can experience trauma too.
Being a relative or a loved one can be a traumatic experience and have serious impacts on you including physical, mental or emotional harm or losses directly or indirectly caused by a criminal offence.
For others the experience may be stressful but not traumatic.
Wider repercussions for family and other loved ones can be direct or vicarious / secondary trauma.
Secondary trauma means that although the original (primary) trauma happened to someone else, the impact it’s having on someone else’s life is traumatic for them too. It doesn’t mean it’s any less significant than any other kind of trauma, or any easier to deal with.
It can be extremely shocking and frightening. It can also be stressful worrying about the legal process, waiting for court dates and being at / supporting others at court on the day/s.
The UK charity, SAMM National (Support After Murder and Manslaughter) cites that as many as a third of loved ones bereaved by murder experience PTSD (Casey, 2011).