Criminal justice system in India

The system that deals with agencies of government that are responsible for enforcing the law in the country, maintaining peace and harmony and treating criminal conduct is known check this as the criminal justice system. The aim of the criminal justice system is to ensure that every person who suffers an injury or loss at the hand of others is allowed to present his case and seek justice.

The various objectives of the criminal justice system are:

To punish the wrongdoers.
Prevent the further occurrence of crime in society.
Regulate the behaviour and conduct of people, especially criminals.
Provide relief to the victim.
Treatment of offenders and their rehabilitation.
To create deterrence in the minds of people at large not to indulge in any criminal activity.

Need and evolution of criminal justice systems
According to Hobbes, man is selfish by nature and can go to any extent for pleasure. As said by Bentham, a person avoids pain and demands to seek pleasure. He is usually moved by his instincts and, in earlier times, there were no regulations and limits to control his conduct.

With the increasing population and communities, his interests collided with others’ and led to a situation of conflict. Thus, in order to regulate the conduct of a man, a system was needed that could monitor his actions. The development of the criminal justice system is the same as the development of man.

The first stage was when there was no control over his actions and he acted as per his needs and demands. If needed, he could hurt anyone and fulfil his wishes. Then came the second stage, where the territory expanded and the concept of ‘state’ emerged. At this stage, a ruler ruled the kingdom and other people acted on his behalf. This stage, however, could not handle the conflict of interests, and so the king gave strict punishments based on the theory of eye for an eye and body for a body. This stage was full of revenge and hatred. When the king still could not regulate the actions of man and there was chaos in society, a need for a proper system was felt. With the advancement of time and development in society, the monarchy was replaced by the aristocracy, which was further replaced by democracy, and the government was thought to have a system to control the rate of crime in each state; hence, the criminal justice system emerged.

Types of criminal justice systems
There are two major types of criminal justice systems in the world. These are:

Adversarial system
Inquisitorial system

Adversarial system
This system is followed in common law countries that were once colonies of a particular country. In this system, there is a prosecution advocate and a defence advocate who argue before the court, and the case is decided on the basis of principles of evidence law and procedural laws. The judge decides the case on the basis of arguments between the two counsels and evidence shown in court. This system presumes the accused to be innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

India follows this system because it was once a colony of the British empire and hence called a common law country. The prosecutor represents the state, as it is presumed that a crime has been committed against the state at large, and so, it is the obligation of the state to provide justice. In this system, both parties are given rights to a fair trial and hearing, and so justice is delayed.

Inquisitorial system
This system is followed in civil law countries. In this system, the judge can himself investigate the matter and decide the case on the basis of investigation and inquiry. The counsel from each side is present, but unlike in the adversarial system, there is no cross-examination of witnesses. The decision and its accuracy depend on the prudence and skills of the judge.