Every nation has a set standard that guides the operation of its legal system. The legal systems of England and the United States have an identical historical origin and they, therefore, share various similarities. However, there are some main differences between the justice systems This paper compares and contrasts the justice system of the United States and England based on their substantive law, procedural law, judicial law and policing systems. The substantive laws in both the United States and England are identical. The substantive law in the United States involves written statutory laws that are passed by the nation’s legislature to guide the behavior of citizens. The statutory laws define what is considered a criminal offense and put forward punishment. They also govern the obligations and rights of all people within its jurisdiction. For instance, when someone is arrested for drinking while driving, several things should be proved as defined by substantive law. Such things include proving that the person was actually driving, the reasons that led to police pulling them over, and proving that the person was drunk beyond the legal limit using a field sobriety test or a breathalyzer. The substantive law in England identical to that of the U.S in many dimensions. According to Kiralfy and Mary (2019), most concepts encompassed in the United States constitution originated from English law. Such concepts may include delegation and separation of powers between the branches of the nation’s government and the development of an elective national assembly which represents people’s will. The United States legal procedure used in the nation’s criminal and justice systems can also trace their roots to English law.
The United States procedural law works hand in hand with its substantive law to make sure that the legal system abides by the laws imposed by the constitution. While the substantive law addresses the statutes and requirements, the procedural law states the methods that are followed to ensure people's rights are protected in the court. The 6 th Amendment which outlines the rights of criminal defendants including the right to a lawyer, the right to a public trial without being delayed unnecessarily, the right to know the accusations labeled against you, the right to know your accusers, and the right to an impartial jury presents a good example of procedural law ( Barta, 2014). Based on this Act, most states are only allowed to hold an individual for 48-72 hours before releasing them if there is no evidence showing that they are guilty. This is the same as the procedural laws of England. As stated by the Public Law Project (n.d) , the procedural laws for both nations are set to govern the operations of the court system and ensure that the court is fair. The judicial review in the United States enables the Supreme Court to take responsibility in making sure that the legislative and executive branch of the government abides by the constitution. This gives them the supreme court the role of inspecting to make sure that the constitutional rights of the American citizens are respected in court. As an example, holding people for more than 48-72 hours without any evidence showing that they are guilty would be breaching the 6 th Amendment. The role of judicial review is to make sure such a violation of the law does not happen. England's judicial review has the same responsibility as that of the United States. As stated in the Public Law Project in the UK, the judicial review allows the judge and analyze the lawfulness of an action or decision. The policing systems in the United States are the most decentralized across the globe. Even though are police agencies in local communities, the federal and state officials are involved in local crime investigations of crimes that they have jurisdiction. The police agencies in the U.S include the Federal system including the U.S Secret Service and the FBI, the State agencies including the highway or state patrol, and the Local police agencies including the sheriff and police departments. The police in the United States have the power to control behavior and maintain law and order in their territories to ensure good health, morals, safety and general well-being of their citizens. The police agencies in England, on the other hand, are categorized into Territorial police forces that execute most policing duties, the National law enforcement bodies which include the National Crime Agency and non-regional jurisdiction, and Miscellaneous police forces that have their foundations in common law ( Segrave & Ratcliffe, 2017). Just like the police agencies in the United States, police forces in England have the power to maintain law and order by arresting and detaining criminals. They also carry out intimate checks, breath tests, fixed penalty notices, and road checks to ensure their territories are safe and healthy. Some differences between the justice system of the United States and England include the difference in terminologies used during the execution of procedural laws. All the legal professions are generally referred to as lawyers. In England, the legal professionals are referred to as barristers and solicitors. While solicitors provide advice and draft legal documents for the clients they are representing, barristers review witnesses, victims, and defendants in front of a jury. The court systems also differ as the United States does not have Tribunal systems like those designed in England for proceedings of some of the disputes. Conclusively, the justice systems of the United States and England are quite similar. This is because the two nations have the same historical origin. However, the two nations exhibit some differences in the terminologies used in court and their court systems.
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References
Barta, J. (2014). Guarding the Rights of the Accused and Accuser: The Jury's Role in Awarding Criminal Restitution Under the Sixth Amendment. Am. Crim. L. Rev. , 51 , 463.
Kiralfy, R., and Mary, G. (2019, Nov 29). “Criminal Law and Procedure.” Encyclopædia Britannica , Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/common-law/Criminal-law-and-procedure.
Public Law Project (n.d). “An Introduction to Judicial Review.”, publiclawproject.org.uk/resources/an-introduction-to-judicial-review-2/.
Segrave, M., & Ratcliffe, J. (2017). Community policing: A descriptive overview.
