LEGISLATION DOES NOT NECESSARILY EQUAL IMPROVEMENT ANALYSE THE LATEST PROPOSED CRIMINAL JUSTICE LEGISLATION EMERGING FROM THE
There are many Bills of Parliament to date however this essay will be focused around the Criminal Justice (Justifiable Conduct) Bill . This Bill, if it passed, will implement a great number of changes to the criminal justice system, however, all these amendments may not actually be improving the criminal justice system by very much. The Criminal Justice (Justifiable Conduct) Bill seeks to address the underlying perception that the criminal justice system has moved away from the interests of the victim of crime (in these circumstances this is the householder ) and towards the criminal becoming the victim. ... The Criminal Justice (Justifiable Conduct) Bill aims to respond to the growing public concern and help clarify the issues surrounding it. ... The Criminal Justice (Justifiable Conduct) Bill also brings to account concerns over squatters. ... As it is the squatters who occupy this hypothetical property they are entitled to the right of defence under this Bill, and as a result of this the question is raised over to who they can defend themselves against as they occupy the property but do not own it. This Bill implies that they are permitted to defend themselves from the owner if they are unaware that he/she is the owner of that property in question. This can surely not be a benefit to the fight against crime as it indirectly encourages squatters and gives them more rights. In order to successfully assist in the fight against crime any legislation that is introduced must defend both the victim’s and the criminal’s perspectives. Using the case of Tony Martin as an example it can be seen that as a householder he deserves the defence from the burglars that this Bill could give him, and it is felt by the people that he should have that right not only as a deterrent of crime but for their own personal safety also, however, it must also be remembered that Fred Barras also did not deserve to die in such circumstances. This raises the question that people would be legally entitled to kill if someone was on their property – Section 3 (2) of the Criminal Justice (Justifiable Conduct) Bill clearly states that “Where this section applies, A is not liable in tort by any reason of any act done by him in relation to the property of another person (B) who is in the dwelling, or is attempting to gain entry to the dwelling” (Criminal Justice (Justifiable Conduct) Bill (2004) http:/www.