Crime. A comparative study of Australia’s criminal law, United States criminal law and India’s criminal law

Introduction

Task

WELCOME!!

You have just finished your HSC and you landed yourself a job as a Legal Assistant for one of the most top law firms in the city! You have been told that as your first task, you need to create a booklet which compares crime in Australia, United States and India. You have come to the right place as this WebQuest will guide you through the content you need in order to produce your booklet.

After you finish the booklet you are required to create and present a PowerPoint presentation to your colleagues about your findings. 

Goodluck in your first task as a legal assistant!

Hope you succeed with flying colours!

Process

Question 1:

a)      What are the types of common crimes committed in each country?

b)      Why do you think the crimes committed in each country differ from one another in

terms of its commonness?

 

Question 2:

The table below shows data on recorded crime as published by the ABS for the period 1996 to 2012. Interpret the table below and answer the following questions.

http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/facts/1-20/2013/1_recorded.html

Table 1 

Victims of selected violent crimes, 1996–2012 (n)

Homicidea

Assaultb

Sexual assault

Robberyc

Kidnapping/abduction

1996

354

114,156

14,542

16,372

478

1997

364

124,500

14,353

21,305

564

1998

334

130,903

14,689

23,801

707

1999

385

134,271

14,699

22,606

766

2000

362

138,708

16,406

23,336

695

2001

347

152,283

17,577

26,591

767

2002

366

160,118

18,718

20,989

706

2003

341

157,280

18,025

19,709

696

2004

302

156,849

19,171

16,513

768

2005

301

166,507

18,695

17,176

729

2006

321

172,441

19,555

17,375

726

2007

283

176,077

19,954

17,996

733

2008

293

170,720

19,992

16,513

788

2009

293

175,277

18,807

15,238

564

2010

261

171,083

18,027

14,631

608

2011

276

117,992

17,592

13,653

675

2012

297

116,105

18,153

13,155

636

 

a)      Which major category of offence is committed the most?

b)      Which year had the most crimes committed?

c)      Calculate the percentage of homicide offence committed.

d)      Calculate the percentage of assault committed.

e)      Create a line graph to represent the trend in the above table.

f)       Referring to your line graph, explain the trend of homicide offence.

 

Question 3:

The number of victims of selected violent offences that occurred within each type of location is presented in the below table. Interpret the table and answer the following questions.

http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/facts/1-20/2013/1_recorded.html

Table 3 Location type of violent crimes, 2012

Murder

Sexual assault

Robbery

Kidnapping/abduction

Residential

Residential dwelling

134

11,215

1,064

237

Outbuilding/residential land

11

234

171

8

Other residential

12

248

27

0

Total residential

157

11,697

1,262

245

Community

Transport

5

607

1,121

15

Street/footpath

38

1,197

5,128

250

Other community location

20

1,527

383

48

Total community

63

3,331

6,632

313

Other location

Retail

10

767

3,809

33

Recreational

8

839

988

30

Other

6

253

262

8

Total other

24

1,859

5,059

71

Unspecified

10

1,193

138

7

Total

254

18,080

13,091

636

 

a)      In which location have the crimes occurred the most?

b)      In which location did murder occur the most? Calculate the percentage.

c)      In which location did sexual assault occur the most? Calculate the percentage.

d)      In which location did kidnapping occur the most? Calculate the percentage.

e)      Which crime was most committed in retail? Why do you think this is the case.

f)       Create an area graph for the above data to demonstrate its trend.

 

Question 4:

 

a)      Explain how the criminal law is governed in India?

b)      How is the guilt or innocence decided by the court?

c)      Compare India’s crime rate with Australia and United States.

d)      What is the highest amount of crime in India?

e)      What is the lowest amount of crime in India?

f)       Compare India’s murder rate with the rest of world.

 

Question 5:

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2015/september/latest-crime-stats-released/latest-crime-stats-released

a)      As of 2014, how many crimes were reported in the United States?

b)      What were the highest numbers of arrests for?

c)      From the given statistics on the above website, create a table to summarise the information provided.

 

Question 6:

a)      Where are low levels of homicide?

b)      Where are high levels of homicide?

c)      Create a table that summarises the above data.

 

Question 7:

 

a)      Go to the above websites and investigate the procedure of how to report crime in Australia, United States and India. Explain the procedure of each country by writing a 500 word report.

 

Question 8:

Watch the below video and answer the following questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCCmxEYIVkw

a)      Can you remain anonymous while calling crime stoppers?

b)      Do the crime stoppers record their calls?

c)      What do the crime stoppers do with the information collected over the phone?

d)      Does the person calling then have to present themselves at court to make a statement?

e)      How does the employee communicate to the person speaking over the phone? Explain the tone of language used.

f)       How does the employee record the information being said over the phone?

 

Question 9:

Answer the questions by visiting the website below and with reference to the below hierarchy.

http://www.hierarchystructure.com/indian-police-service-hierarchy/

a)      How are the senior officers selected and explain their role.

b)      Examine the role of upper subordinates.

c)      What are police constabulary responsible for? How much of the police force do they represent?

 

Question 10: Below is the information of prisoners in Australia.

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/8D5807D8074A7A5BCA256A6800811054?Opendocument

Interpret the graph and explain the trend.

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Question 11: below is the data of prisoners in United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate#/media/File:U.S._incarceration_rates_1925_onwards.png

 

 

 Interpret the graph and explain the trend.

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Question 12:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2page1.stm

a)      Compare and explain the results of Australia, United States and India.

b)      Create a bar graph to represent the above data.

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Question 13: visit the below websites for access to Australia’s United States and India’s crimes legislation and answer the following questions.

 

a)      Create tables for each of the below and report on the following for each country:

-          Punishment for murder

-          Child murder

-          Manslaughter

-          Attempt to murder

-          Suicide and attempt to suicide

-          Threatening

-          Possession of weapon

-          Poisoning

-          Assault

-          Sexual assault

-          Child prostitution

-          Kidnapping

-          Robbery

 

Question 14:

You Be The Judge- You are the judge and have to decide on the sentencing for an offender.

Matt Burg is a 22 year old man and was 20 at the time of the offence. He is described as placid and easygoing. Over 3-4 years Matt became obsessed about death and committing murder. He has a verbal IQ of 71 and failed at school. Since leaving school he has been a successful cabinet maker. He has been found guilty of one count of murder. Matt Burg and his friend Tony were drinking beer at a mutual friend’s house. Matt produced a knife he had earlier stolen and told his friends that he needed it for protection. Soon after Matt and Tony returned to their flat. In an unprovoked attack, Matt stabbed Tony a number of times. Tony broke free and ran out onto the road where passengers of cars stopped and called for ambulance. Meanwhile Matt slashed his wrist and stabbed himself in the chest. He then called 000 saying that he needs serious help and that he had tried to killed a friend with a knife. Matt showed no concern of the fate of his friend but concentrated on his own wound. Meanwhile police and ambulance arrived in response to the passengers of cars who had called for ambulance. Tony died in hospital an hour later. Matt was treated for his wounds in hospital and underwent psychiatric examinations.

Factors for consideration- Matt pleaded guilty as soon as it was discovered that he isn’t mentally impaired. From the age of 15 Matt downloaded grotesque and depraved images and materials of the internet. At all times Matt frankly admitted responsibility for his actions and never blamed alcohol or drugs for his actions. Despite his difficulties at school, Matt’s teachers found him polite and easy to deal with. Matt is single and has a full-time job. He has no previous convictions.

What sentence would you give Matt?

  • If imprisonment, what would be the head sentence and non-parole period?
  • If a partially suspended sentence, what would be the length of sentence and operational period?
  • If a totally suspended sentence, what would be the length of sentence and operational period?

 

Question 15: What do you favour? Rate the below from 1 to 13 (1 being the most you favour and 13 being the less you favour).

Since 1973, 138 people on Death Row have been found innocent

139 countries have stopped using the death penalty

It costs around 38% more for a country to execute someone  than to keep them in prison for life

Killing someone is murder, whatever for your reasons

Only 5% of people on Death Row can afford a lawyer to help fight their case

It is a Human Right that no one should suffer from a cruel punishment such as the death penalty

You can never be 100% certain that someone has committed a crime

Everybody deserves a second chance

A better punishment is to make them think about what they have done for the rest of their lives

The death penalty is seen by some as the only acceptable form of punishment for murderers

If you murder someone then you have given up your Human Rights, including the Right to Life

No one has proven that the death penalty stops other people committing the same crime

Only the death penalty will stop killers

 

 

Evaluation

Criteria

Mark
  • Limited or no description of the answer
  • Absent/superficial explanation of answers
  • Inconsistent or incorrect use of vocabulary

Fail

0 - 14
  • Frequently accurate description of the answers
  • demonstrates understanding of the answers
  • Mostly relevant terminology and facts used

 

Pass

15 - 19.4
  • Accurate description of the answer
  • Demonstrates good understanding of the answers
  • Relevant terminology and facts used
  • Satisfactory level of explanation used.

Credit

19.5 – 22.4
  • Accurate description of the answers
  • Demonstrates excellent understanding of the answers
  • Uses variety of relevant terminology and facts
  • Excellent level of understanding used.

Distinction

22.5 – 25.4
  • Accurate description of the answers
  • Demonstrates superior understanding of the answers
  • Uses superior command of relevant terminology and facts
  • Superior level of understanding used.

High Distinction

25.5 - 30

Conclusion

Well done! You employer is very proud of you!

Now you gotta nail one more task do your presentation!

Goodluck, Im sure you'll do fine in your presentation!

All the very best!