lawandorder (David Goodall)

David's Views: Law and Order

The backbone of a civil society are considerate people who are respectful of you, the ones you love and things you own.

The great majority of people in this country are just such people. However there are some who have a lack of respect.

To keep this troublesome group in check requires a good and well motivated police force, a fair and just legal system and punishments which prevent further trouble.

In my view this can only work well :

if all parts of the legal system work together - by this I mean the police, courts, sentencing and probation/social services, one part should not over-burden any other.
if the public trust the system - then they will report problems and give the police the information they need to perform the task required.
if the justice is timely - a process which is too long is unfair on the accused if found not guilty in the end and the victim because it prolongs the incident.
if the decisions are just - the counter balance to quick justice is correct justice, cases of miscarriage of justice must be avoided
if crime prevention works - to really tackle the level of crime, more has to be done in this area particularly in the area of minor offences. The great train robbers didn't start with the train.
if punishments prevent re-offending - offenders don't just need punishment but need to be helped out of a life of crime through education in both job and life skills.

The bottom line: