President-elect Joe Biden will take office at a critical moment in the country`s history. There is a concrete opportunity to rethink and rethink how and for whom the criminal justice system works. The racial justice protests that erupted in the summer of 2020 in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others reinforced calls for systemic and cultural change and opened political space for reform. footnote1_pgiif2y 1 Giovanni Russonello, “Have Americans Warmed to Calls to `Defund the Police?`,” New York Times, July 3, 2020 (updated August 4, 2020), www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/us/politics/polling-defund-the-police.html. For more information on police reform, please follow the links below: The Criminal Law Reform Project aims to end strict policies and racial inequalities in the criminal justice system. UNODC`s work in the area of criminal justice reform includes: police reform, prosecutors, the judicial system (courts), access to legal defence and legal aid, prison reform and alternatives to imprisonment, and restorative justice. It is clear that criminal justice reform must be a central response to the demand for racial justice expressed in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. If we as a society want to make it clear that Black lives matter, there must be a new relationship between the police and the communities they are supposed to serve and protect. But reform must go much beyond policing to take into account the broad scope of the criminal justice system, its harsh punitive approach, and the need to invest in communities. We need to reinvent the justice system.
We must finally and fully commit to the vision that security and equality go hand in hand. Some jurisdictions, including the United States and the United Kingdom, give their police the power to arrest citizens if they have reasonable grounds (United Kingdom) or reasonable suspicion (United States) that the detained person may be involved in criminal activity. [2] [3] Critics of this practice argue that police use reasonable suspicion standards to unevenly arrest citizens, often targeting people because of their race. [4] During these checks, police may search the person for illegal weapons or other items such as drugs or drug paraphernalia. EJI believes that ending mass incarceration is the civil rights issue of our time. We fight excessive sentencing in court, advocate for probation and reintegration support, and lead systemic reform through research, education and storytelling. The Principles and Guidelines are also the first international instruments to recognize the contribution of paralegals and other actors such as universities, law students and charities to the delivery of legal aid. including the right to be informed of the right to legal aid before coming into contact with the criminal justice system; expand the extent to which services for victims, witnesses and women should be distinguished; and encourage States to provide free legal aid to any person where it is in the interests of justice and for as long as the application of the means test is envisaged. Building on his commitment to address cases of injustice in sentencing, President Obama commuted the sentences of more men and women than the last six presidents combined. The conversions underscore the President`s commitment to using every tool at his disposal to bring greater fairness and justice to our justice system. To encourage this progress, the president launched a clemency initiative to encourage those convicted under outdated laws and policies to apply for conversion.
Restorative justice is an approach to crime that involves the victim, the perpetrator, their social networks, judicial authorities and the community. Restorative justice programs are based on the basic principle that criminal behaviour not only violates the law, but also harms victims and the community. All efforts to address the consequences of criminal behaviour should, to the extent possible, involve both the perpetrator and the injured parties, while providing the assistance and support that victims and perpetrators need. The mandate of UNODC is to assist countries in establishing and reforming their prison systems and in implementing non-custodial sanctions and measures in accordance with human rights principles and United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice. Criminal justice reform is an attempt to change perceived injustices in the length of criminal sentences. This is part of the broader concept of criminal law reform. In the U.S. criminal justice system, criminal codes are criticized as draconian and racially discriminatory. In addition, they are cited as the main culprits of the growing and excessive prison population known as mass incarceration. One method of reform is the concept of community punishment[34][35] or alternative conviction or non-custodial sentence is a collective term in criminal justice for all the different ways in which courts can punish an accused convicted of a crime, other than imprisonment (serving a prison sentence) or the death penalty (the death penalty). In most countries of the world, detention and detention are the main measures imposed on people suspected of violating the criminal law or even convicted of a crime.
The overuse of prisons leads to a number of mutually reinforcing difficulties in adequately addressing the reintegration needs of offenders while violating the rights of innocent people. EJI advocates for probation reform, challenges mandatory minimum sentences and repeat offender laws, and addresses the collateral consequences of incarceration for families and communities. Congress and the president should commit to making significant criminal justice reform a key priority. Some elements of these reforms can be implemented through approximation or other budgetary measures. Some can be achieved through executive action, through a renewed Ministry of Justice, or directly by the president through executive orders. Swift action will show the public that demands for accountability have been heard. Criminal justice reform will show that those in power understand the urgency of declaring, in words and deeds, that Black lives matter. Finally, proponents of prison reform argue that health care and sanitation in prisons need to be improved.