Ethics and Governance in the Criminal Justice System

Question: Discuss about theEthics and Governance in the Criminal Justice System. Answer: Introduction: The actions of the law enforcing authorities are often criticized for maladministration and unethical stands taken by them. This happens to be one of the most favorite subjects of the common people since the easiest thing to do is to find faults with the actions taken by policemen. While the intention of this essay is not to deprive the public of the pleasures of finding faults with an agency who is neither worried nor bothered by what people say in private since whenever some problems surface they first think of calling the police. Police is neither an authority nor an agency but is essentially a concept. This concept is one of very high dependence on them to seek justice against any wrong doings by any one(Banks, 2004). Discussion: Since the police force is an integral part of the society it would be very appropriate to look at the very basic dilemma which faces this esteemed law implementing force. To start with, the ethical dilemma that this force is required to address can be understood by a simple situation which must have come sometime in every bodys life. Suppose that somebodys grandmother is very sick and is on the verge of passing away. The doctor has very clearly said that she has just a few hours to live(Kleinig, 1996). At this point she calls the person and tells him that her last and death wish is that he should wake up early and say his prayers before the lord every morning. Now this person is in a fix. This grandmother was his best friend during his growing up years, she was his shelter from all the hazards of the family whenever he was up to some mischief, she was the one who would sing him lullabies and put him to sleep and in aunt shell this person was very fond of his grandmother. Here is the main question, and that is what does he answer? He knows that he has to work in the factory till late in the evening and rarely will he be at home before mid night. Again the next morning he has to rush to be in time for this duty. He knows that his life style just does not permit to wake up early and say his prayers. If he says no that would be telling the truth but then the old lady who has just a few hours to live would be very badly disappointed. Again if he tells that he certainly would ensure that he does not start the day without saying his prayers then that would be a blatant lie since he knows better than anyone else that he will never be able to keep his promise. Yet the old lady whom he loved so much would be happy. Without wasting time on which should be the right answer for him to give, a quick look at the basic intentions and the interpretations of these two situations will throw some light on the teleological and deontological theory concepts. These two theories are two ways of looking at the above event(Maguire, 2002). While Teleological theory lays emphasis on the consequences the Deontological theory lays stress on the actions. Thus if the person tells his grandmother that it would not be possible for him to say his prayers every morning then deontological views say that he is very correct since he is telling the truth; but then the consequences would be that the dying grandmother will be very sad since her death wish was not granted. Thus by the deontological theory it may be the right thing to do but teleological view would fault him for creating sadness to a very intimate and loving individual at a very critical juncture of her life(Stanford, 2007). Again by the teleological view the answer in affirmative that he would tell his prayers regularly in the morning only to ensure that his grandmother passes away with a very light heart is essentially a white lie. Deontological consideration would emphasize that he tells the truth at least to a dying person who is very close to her. Telling a lie at such a position in life is a grave misconduct which is very wrong(Uow, 2007) The police force however needs to follow the Deontological views since the police cannot have any kind of intimacy with the wrong doer. The above example is only to clarify the difference between the two theories i.e. Teleological and deontological theory and this example is not applicable for the police force of the country. All teleological views are areas which need closer probing to establish the intentions and the consequences of any wrongful action. Police do neither have the authority to judge or decide on the consequences of the actions. They are present that no one breaks any rules(Bagaric Dimopoulos, 2003) Conclusion: If someone rushes past a red signal on the road on the plea that he has to reach the office in time the police is not licensed to take a teleological view and let the culprit go free. The rule is that if there is a red signal all traffic must stop. The reason is that red signals did not get placed on the streets all of a sudden. If the trespasser wanted to reach office in time then he should have started early enough. Breaking rules are not permissible yes if he can convince the judge that he had to reach a place which meant a difference of life and death for someone then perhaps the the judge would consider viewing his lapse with an element of softness. But then it is the job of the judge not the police. Thus police should go by the actions (whether a wrong has been done on not) and not by consequences and intentions. References: Bagaric, M. Dimopoulos, P., 2003. Legal ethics is normal etchis: towards a coherent system of legal ethics. [Online] [Accessed 23 Occtober 2016]. Banks, C., 2004. Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. Sage. Kleinig, J., 1996. The Ethics of Policing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Maguire, M..M.R.a.R.R., 2002. The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stanford, 2007. Deontological Ethics. [Online] Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/ [Accessed 23 October 2016]. Uow, 2007. Technological theory of ethics. [Online] Available at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001context=accfinwp [Accessed 23 October 2016].