The purpose of Unit 3 is to develop your understanding and skills needed to examine information in order to review the justice of verdicts in criminal cases. Some of the key questions we will aim to answer are:

What are the roles of personnel involved when a crime is detected?
What investigative techniques are available to investigators to help to identify the culprit?
Do techniques differ depending on the type of crime being investigated?
What happens to a suspect once charged by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)?
What safeguards are in place to ensure a suspect has a fair trial?

The criminal trial process involves many different people and agencies. Learning about the roles of these will give you a clearer insight into what happens once a crime is detected and the process that leads to either a guilty or non-guilty verdict. There are strict rules as to how evidence is collected from a crime scene and also strict rules governing the giving of evidence in court; learning about these rules will allow you to review the trial process and assess whether the aims of the criminal justice system have been met. You may be familiar with the role of the jury in the Crown Court, but you may not be aware of the many different factors that influence jury decision-making.

By undertaking this unit, you will be able to assess the use of lay people in determining the fate of a suspect and evaluate the criminal trial process from crime scene to courtroom. A miscarriage of justice occurs when an innocent person goes to prison and when the guilty person is still free and unpunished.

At the end of this unit you will have gained the skills to review criminal cases, evaluating the evidence in the cases to determine whether the verdict is safe and just.