Occasional Paper

Tough Choices: Prioritising Criminal Justice Policies

“This paper seeks to answer this question by looking at the role of the criminal justice system, and identifying key interventions to improve the performance of the police and prosecution services. The focus of the paper is on the police and prosecution services because the key criminal justice blockages are situated there. While the prisons are desperately overcrowded, there is little the prison authorities can do about this. The department of correctional services has to accommodate all persons sent its way by the courts—suspects who are denied bail and awaiting trial, and convicted offenders
sentenced to a period of imprisonment. Thereafter, the paper argues that enhancing the capacity of the prosecution service should be a strategic priority. This should boost the performance of the entire criminal justice system within a short period of time in a cost effective way.”