comparative criminal justice system M2 W

Instructions

Respond to the following statement:

Marx stated that in a true socialist society, criminal law would not be needed because property would belong to all, thus there would be no urge to rob or steal.

How might Marx’s statement conflict with beliefs in a Sacred Law type of nation like Saudi Arabia? In this context and in general, could the law be as easily dismissed as Marx asserts? Why or why not?

This paper should be approximately 1,000 words in length. Don’t get carried away with length. Two well written pages can get an A while five poorly written ones could receive a failure. Please document your sources using APA citations.

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A written assignment is intended to test your understanding of important concepts and discover how to sharpen your intellectual skills of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and application. The intent is to provide an opportunity for you to more fully describe, explain, and analyze the assigned readings as well as the other sources (library/Internet) used in developing your work. When choosing source materials to support your writing, it should be remembered that this course is considered upper level study. As such, use of your text(s) as primary source material is highly discouraged.

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ANSWER

Comparative Criminal Justice System M2 W

According to the Marxist theory, criminal law would not be needed in a truly socialist society as there would be no need because property would belong to all. The Marxist theory believes that the legal systems and the police serve the interests of the Bourgeoisie. According to this theory, these institutions are used to control the asses and to prevent revolution. They are used to keep people in a state of false consciousness (Dammer & Albanese, 2013). Marx’s statement conflicts with sacred law countries such as Saudi Arabia. In a country such as Saudi Arabia, the country is under Islamic law.

In Saudi Arabia, there is no difference between the sacred and the secular aspects of society. This means that religion in Saudi determines what is right and wrong. The criminal justice system in Saudi Arabia is dependent on the Quran, and thus the country is a religious state governed by the Quran (Dammer & Albanese, 2013). This means that Marx’s statement of a perfect socialist society not needing criminal law conflicts with such a society in such a sacred law nation God is the law, and thus there is no way their society would not need law and God is the law.

Marx asserts that the law can be easily disregarded and dismissed if the world was a real socialist world. However, the only crimes that are committed are not committed because people do not have property or wealth. People commit crimes because of many different reasons. Apart from theft, there are cases of assault, hate crimes, rape cases, and kidnappings. There is an innate evil that comes with human beings or in others it develops (Shelden & Shelden, 2018). There are cases of rich children from affluent homes who have been raped and killed, and their parents have protected them while others have gone to jail. While, to some extent, Marx is right that the criminal law system is there to protect the rich and their interests, there are instances that the system works in cases such as those of rape. In as much as in a perfect socialist society, there would be no need to steal as everybody would have what they need, there would still be a need to be protected from rapists and violent people. In such a world, prisons would not be necessary, but there would still be a need for justice and a legal system that decides what happens in certain laws are broken.

All societies need some form of order. According to Marx, the social systems are in place to prevent the revolution from happening. However, this assertion is untrue. Criminal law systems are in place to protect the people. There are many instances where the systems do not work for the people’s good, but despite the system’s many flaws of the system, it is still necessary to ensure that there is order (Corrigan & Sayer, 2018). If there was no order in a socialist system, there would be the possibility of people taking more than others. For example, someone could decide to take more food than they need and leave families that need the food starving. Even in a perfect socialist society, laws are in place to ensure the system is working. This, therefore, means that criminal law is not there just to protect the rich. It is there to ensure that there is order. Without order, there would be chaos even in the ideal socialist society where everybody does not lack.

Marx’s law is not only in conflict with the sacred law nations. It is also in conflict with other nations. Generally speaking, the world already struggles with a wide range of crimes. Not just robbery and theft as claimed in the statement. According to the comparative study, there is a wide range of crimes, including assaults (Dammer & Albanese, 2013). Apart from rape, there are other offenses where one is touched inappropriately. Even in a perfect socialist society, there would need to be laws because as long as one deals with human beings, there are other forms of offenses unrelated to wealth or the need to have money. In such a society, governance and law would still be needed. Human beings need some form of order. There would still need to be a justice system to determine cases of assault, rape, murder, and other criminal activity that does not involve money or the need for power.

In a perfect socialist society, people would still get married and need to get divorced. The justice system would be required to oversee proceedings such as marriage and divorce in such a society. There would still be laws about underage marriage, and people who try to marry children would need to be arrested and prosecuted. There are more uses of the criminal law system than preventing theft and robbery. There are many other forms of criminal activity that are in the world. Even in a perfect socialist society, doctors are likely to commit crimes such as testing their patients against their will. There is more to society than just wealth; thus, the criminal justice system is important in ensuring that the community runs smoothly. It is an important part of human existence. Despite what Marx might think and the belief that these systems are there to hold humanity back from revolution, they are important systems.

In conclusion, while Marx has a point in stating that the criminal justice system is in place to serve the rich. While the system favors the rich and those in power and is useful in protecting their wealth, the criminal law system is essential in sacred law nations and even in general nations. In sacred law nations because God is their law, and in general law countries because the criminal law system might not always work for all, but it is still essential in ensuring that the countries run smoothly whether they are socialist or capitalist. In all situations, the law is essential, and the justice system is needed to keep things running.

References

Corrigan, P., & Sayer, D. (2018). How the law rules: variations on some themes in Karl Marx. In Law, state and society (pp. 21-53). Routledge.

Dammer, H. R., & Albanese, J. S. (2013). Comparative criminal justice systems. Cengage Learning.

Shelden, R., & Shelden, R. G. (2018). Critique of legal order: Crime control in capitalist society. Routledge.