Why crime has risen so much further and faster in Britain than in any other rich country over the past half-century is anybody’’s guess. Maybe it’’s the result of near-American levels of relative poverty and family breakdown combined with a European reluctance to bang up quite such a large proportion of the population as America does. Anyway, the long-term causes are of less immediate interest to the government than a short-term solution. Popular concern about crime is rising:23% of people rated it as one of the most important issues for the govenment at the beginning of this year;34% do now.
An official report concluding that the criminal justice system is failing has added to the government’’s problems. The Audit (审计) Commission, the government’’s watchdog, says that the police too often charge suspects with the wrong offences, use inaccurate computerized information and face serious inefficiencies in the forensic science (the use of scientific methods by the police) service. Court delays alone are costing taxpayers ￡ 80m( ＄120m) a year. The result is that few criminals are brought to justice and even fewer convicted. Only 6% of the more than 5m offences recorded by the police last year resulted in a conviction. Hardly surprising, then, that more than half the public believes that the criminal justice system is ineffective.
The main purpose of the White Paper published last year is to address concerns that the procedures of the court are weighted too heavily against the prosecution, It includes many sensible and uncontroversial proposals. It asks for more support for witnesses, many of whom are frightened of testifying. A survey of one London court found that, of 140 witnesses called in a two-week period, only 19 actually turned up.
Making juries more representative must also make sense. Getting off jury service is too easy. In some London courts, two-thirds of those called for jury service fail to turn up. As a result ,juries are often composed of housewives, the unemployed and the retired. The White Paper recommends a check on professionals’’ getting off service, who can excuse themselves by saying their work is too important, and proposes penalties for those who fail to comply.
Other proposed reforms will be more controversial. At present, no defendant can be tried for the same offence twice even if compelling new evidence emerges. The government’’s plan to scrap that law will be resisted by civil liberties campaigners, as will the proposal that previous convictions should be disclosed in open court where they are relevant to the case being heard.
Whether or not such proposals make it into law, the White Paper did not do much to address public concerns. The reason why 94% of crimes do not result in a conviction is that three-quarters of them are not cleared up, and so nobody is charged. That is the fault of the police, not the courts; and that is the part of the criminal justice system that the government needs to focus on if it is to make a difference.
Concerning the reason for the fast growth of crime in Britain,
A． anybody can make a guess at it. B．everybody can have his/her idea C．nobody can know it for certain D．anyone can work it out by guess