Assignment 1

Q1

Drug trafficking is a transnational crime that has continued to expand despite the demonstration of counterdrug success over the recent years. Cocaine trading is an illicit drug that has continued a serious threat not only to health but to security, safety as well as the financial well-being of people around the world (Reichel & Albanese, 2013). The demand for cocaine has increased in the Unites States and all over the world as it fuels the power of violence and impunity of criminal organization globally. Countries such as America, Mexico West Africa, and Latin America have been labeled as cartels exploiting local and regional criminal organizations of moving the cocaine to Western Europe as well as the Middle East. The increase in drug trafficking has been connected to the increase of local crimes and corruption (Reichel & Albanese, 2013).

Q2

Crime in the US is defined to be an illegal act that is punishable by the state. Crimes of violence can be said to be an offense of element use, tried use or there is a substantial force against property or individual. This may include felony by its nature to a person or property which may be used to commit a crime. In the UK a crime is considered to be an offense that is against the whole community by committing acts that are guilty with a guilty mind (Hirschel, Wakefield & Sasse, 2007). A traditional view in the UK views crimes as a moral fault of an individual. According to the FBI in the US there have been a total of 1,246,248 estimated violent crimes that occurred in 2010 a decrease of 6% from 2009. With these crimes aggravated assaults composed the largest number of 62.5 % while murder took 1.2 % and the rest of robbery crimes. The total number of crime in the UK is more than that of the US. Drug-related crimes are more in the UK by 0.9 % (Hirschel, Wakefield & Sasse, 2007).

In US crime is quantified in two major ways. These are the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) which is calculated by totaling the key crimes together which are accounted for and the National Crime Victimisation Survey (NCVS) which is a scientific survey conducted to the population on whether they have been victims of crime. In the UK official statics which involves contrasting the statistics from the government agencies and bodies such as the courts, police and courts and Victim survey are methods used in measuring crime. This ensures that most of the crimes are captured by the system (Hirschel, Wakefield & Sasse, 2007).

Q3

The US legal system is comprised of codified and uncodified forms of law that has continued to evolve. The legal system in the US is based on the federal law. This came to be when the ancient Americans developed the Bill of Rights considered being the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution. Which an increase in understanding the rights has defined crime and how it is measured (Zartner, 2014). The Treaty of Union in the UK which was put into effect in 1707 has guaranteed a continued existence of the legal system in the UK. However, there are three legal systems in the UK in relation to the geographical area. Despite that with the Acts of Union in the UK which has continued to preserve the principles of the law it has shaped the definition of crime, rate, and measurement Partington, 2013).

Q4

In order to compare crime statistics adequately there is the need to improving identifying and addressing the measure of crimes. With the harmonization of the process, there shall be adequate comparison of the crime statistics as the involved member states have a will have a similar procedure of identifying the crimes making sure that all crimes have been reported (Reichel & Albanese, 2013). Therefore it is true to say that with the standardization of the recognition in member states adequate comparison will be achieved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Hirschel, J. D., Wakefield, W. O., & Sasse, S. (2007). Criminal justice in England and the United States. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers

Partington, M. (2013). Introduction to the English legal system: 2013 - 2014. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Reichel, P., &Albanese, J. (2013). Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice. SAGE Publications

Zartner, D. (2014). Courts, codes, and custom: Legal tradition and state policy toward international human rights and environmental law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.