Class 8 Civics Chapter 6 Our Criminal Justice System

Exercise questions and answers (NCERT) Notes

1. In a town called Peace Land, the supporters of the Fiesta football team learn that the supporters of the Jubilee football team in the nearby city about 40 km away have damaged the ground on which the Final between both teams is to be held the following day. A crowd of Fiesta fans armed with deadly weapons attacks the homes of the supporters of the Jubilee football team in the town. In the attack, 10 men are killed, 5 women are gravely hurt, many homes are destroyed and over 50 people were injured. 

Imagine that you and your classmates are now part of the criminal justice system. First divide the class into the following four groups of persons: 

1. Police, 2. Public Prosecutor, 3. Defense lawyer, 4. Judge.

The column on the right provides a list of functions. Match these with the roles that are listed on the left. Have each group pick the functions that it needs to perform to bring justice to those who were affected by the violence of the Fiesta fans? In what order, will these functions be performed?

Roles Functions

Police hear the witnesses

Public Prosecutor Record the statements of the witnesses

Defense Lawyer Cross-examine the witnesses

Judge Take photographs of burnt homes, Record the evidence, Arrest the Fiesta fans, Writes the judgment,

Argue the case for the victims, Decides for how many years the accused will be put in jail, Examine

the witnesses in court, Pass the judgment, Get the assaulted women medically examined, Conduct

a fair trial, Meet the accused persons.

Ans: 1. Police: record the statements of witnesses, record the evidence, take photographs of burnt homes, arrest the Fiesta fans, get the assaulted women medically examined. 

2. Public Prosecutor: examine the witnesses, cross-examine the witnesses in court, argue the case for the victims. 

3. Defense Lawyer: examine the witnesses; meet the accused persons, cross-examine the witness in court. 

4. Judge: hear the witness, write the judgment, decide for how many years the accused will be put in jail, pass the judgment.

The police are the very first part of the criminal justice system which comes in contact with the location of crime or accident and collects evidence. Then comes the role of Public Prosecutors and Défense lawyers. In the end, the judge decides the case and passes the judgment. There are a number of other things that happen after a crime takes place, which is mentioned above.

2. Now take the same situation but ask one student who is a supporter of the Fiesta Club to perform the functions listed above. Do you think the victims would get justice if only one person performed all of the functions of the criminal justice system? Why not? State two reasons why you believe that different persons need to play different roles as part of the criminal justice system?

Ans: If only one individual handled all aspects of the criminal justice system, he would be swayed by a variety of internal and external biases. As a result, separation of powers is also required in the legal system, because absolute power can never be fair. As all aspects of an investigation and trial cannot be conducted by one person alone, as they entail diverse types of work such as arrests, recording of witness statements,

defense of accused and victims' parties, passing of a fair trial, and a judicially correct judgment, different people must play different roles as part of the criminal justice system. As a result, different people should be in charge of different offices in the criminal justice system to think wisely, grasp situations, and give legal verdicts. If all of these abilities are concentrated in one person, they may be abused, resulting in a violation of the rule of law based on equal and just choices.