Computers are extensively used in the criminal justice information systems in a growing number of countries. Computers help the criminal justice system to work effectively and efficiently, they can improve the quality of justice. The first computer systems used by the policewere data based systems for recording criminal histories and recording details of the cases to be heard in court. They assisted in the conduct of trial. Now widely spread computerization assists in the detection of crime, provides better and more accurate information to help judges to make better decisions. Computers store information accurately, they assist in the conviction of the guilty, assist day-to-day operation of the criminal justice process. Computers help: law enforcement officers in tracing the past criminal history; prosecutors- to prepare and handle the increasing number of cases; judges- to obtain accurate information on the past criminal record of persons found guilty; prisons- to record details of inmates; police agencies- to get information quickly and accurately.
Crime prevention. Computerized criminal statistics systems can be used to provide accurate and objective information on the numbers of reported crimes and of trends in those numbers with the aim of crime prevention.
Detection of crime. Large - scale computer-based information systems can assist investigating officers in reviewing and analysing large quantities of information gathered in the course of major investigation. Data-based systems containing criminal histories, modus operandi,etc., can assist in the identification of suspects and missing persons. Fingerprint record systems can assist in identifying suspects from scene-of-crime investigations and in the positive identification of known suspects. Data-based systems canbe used to record details of missing persons, stolen property,etc., thereby assisting in the solution of crimes. Recording of scene-of-crime details is done more rapidly and accurately.
Computerized case investigationsystems can assist in the efficient preparationof cases fortrial, thereby reducing the time between apprehension and trial.With the use of computers there is a better presentation of case papers.
There is no simple recipe how computers can best be applied to criminal justice. Computers come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. They can be small desktop microcomputers or large, room-size computers; they can operate in isolation or they can be connected together; the programs and information on them can be centralized at one point or can be distributed over a wide area; the computer programme can be designed to serve one criminal justice agency or all agencies of the criminal justice system, a local area or a whole country.
The contents of criminal history system, names of recorded serious offenders, dates of conviction, details of offences and sentences, details of location of offences, details of other offences taken into consideration, in some cases details of offenders’ modus operandi. The same system may also carry stolen vehicle, missing persons, unsolved crimes, stolen property, drugs use register.
Computerization changes the forms of communication among individuals within an agencyor between agencies usually making communication easier and more rapid.
Notes:
data based systems - база данных
imates - заключенные
missing persons – без вести пропавшие лица
modus operandi– метод действия преступника («почерк»)
Тема: «The Faculty of Law of the Cambridge University»
Text 4
1. The University of Cambridge has attracted many of the best minds since 1209, when a group of scholars left Oxford to set up a new institution in Cambridge. It’s one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world. Today the University has grown to around 17,500 students (7,000 of whom are graduate students), and 3,000 teaching and administrative staff. Fifty per cent of the graduate students come from overseas, and well over a third are women. The University and its Colleges are now spread throughout the city. The College system of the University gives a student an environment in which one can meet people from other disciplines and participate in a wide variety of cultural, sporting and social activities. The contact with College staff and fellow students provides an excellent opportunity for broadening students’ interests and horizons, getting involved in University life, and making new friends.
2. Law has been studied and taught at Cambridge University since the 13th century. The core subjects of legal study in all European universities at that time were the Roman law and the Canon law of the Church. Early graduates of the Cambridge Faculty of Canon Law held the highest judicial positions in Europe. The Faculty of Canon Law was closed in 1535, and in 1540 King Henry VIII appointed the first Professor of Civil Law. English law was added to the curriculum in 1800. Examinations in law for the Bachelor’s Degree began in 1858. Since then the Faculty has grown steadily in size and in the range of its interests.
3. Today, the Faculty has more than seventy teaching staff. There are at present 16 professors, 10 readers, and over 70 other University, Faculty and College Teaching Officers. They include specialists in almost every aspect of English law and its history, the laws of other countries (especially European), European Community law, public and private law, Roman law, legal philosophy, and criminology. The Law Faculty also has a long-standing research tradition in such areas as international and comparative law, jurisprudence and legal history. Some Faculty members collaborate with other related faculties such as Economics, Philosophy, Land Economy, History, and Social and Political Sciences.
4. The number of students, which is one of the largest of any law school in the United Kingdom, comprises about 750 undergraduate students and 250 graduate students. Graduates from the Faculty are prominent in academic life, in the judiciary, and in both branches of the legal profession. A lot of famous jurists have been among the University's graduates and the Faculty has many connections with the legal profession at all levels. Most of those who do not enter the academic profession become practicing lawyers, or go into closely related fields such as banking, insurance, accounting and brokerage.
5. The new building of the Law Faculty was opened in 1995. It brings together on one site the Squire Law Library that contains one of the largest legal collections in the UK, the Faculty's lecture and seminar rooms and the administrative offices. It has increased the space for readers of the library and it also provides a focus for Faculty activities, such as formal meetings, informal gatherings, and moots. A new building for the Institute of Criminology was completed in the summer of 2005.
6. The Faculty houses a number of research centres with particular specializations. The Faculty's research centres include the following: Institute of Criminology, Centre for International Law, Centre for European Legal Studies, Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law, Centre for Public Law, Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law, Centre for Business Research, Centre for Tax Law, Cambridge Forum for Legal and Political Philosophy, Cambridge Socio-Legal Group.
7. Under the SOCRATES/ERASMUS programme, the Cambridge Law Faculty has signed an agreement with the Universities of France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. The scheme permits between 10 and 15 law students from Cambridge and the same number from partner Universities to participate in exchange each year. The first exchange with the Faculty of Law started in 1992. This programme is to promote student mobility in Europe.
8. The famous Cambridge University Law Society is open to all members of the University, and especially to all law students. The Society, whose principal officers are themselves law students, meets weekly during term to hear guest speakers (including judges, political figures and visiting scholars). Barristers' and solicitors' evenings are organized so that students can meet members of the legal profession informally. The Society also organizes moots, which are imaginary cases designed to provide elementary practice in advocacy.