South Africa’s Criminal Justice System Assignment

This assignment will be very similar to the Scenario Paper Assignments. However, it is our desire that not only do you become a great researcher, you become an “expert of the presentation.” When you earn your PhD you may find yourself in a teaching role. In fact, maybe you will be teaching Comparative Criminal Justice Systems! This series of PowerPoint presentations will be a great start in your class preparation.

In this assignment you will find yourself in various countries as a criminal! In the scenario and analysis you create you will truly be an international criminal. The “crime” committed can be of your choosing is long as it is illegal in the country we are studying. You will find that this very deep dive into the criminal justice systems of each country we study will help you become a world criminal justice system expert.

The following is your prompt for the setting of your PowerPoint Presentation:

1) You are a US Citizen that is travelling to the country we are studying

2) You arrive at the country

3) You commit a crime

a. Make the crime interesting enough to write about

b. Make the crime of a nature that you will work through the country’s criminal justice system

c. Do not get caught up in the detail of the crime at the expense of the analysis – this will lead to failure of the assignment!

4) You are caught by the country’s law enforcement officers

5) You do not have diplomatic immunity and the country is balking at any means of negotiation with the US for your release from the crime and subsequent punishment

The following is an outline of what you should cover in your presentation:

1) Begin your presentation with a brief analysis of the following elements:

a. Country analysis

i. Introduction to the country

ii. People and society of the country

iii. Economy

iv. Transnational issues (if applicable) that may impact law enforcement

v. Relations with the United States

b. What is the basic government structure and its relationship to the criminal justice system

c. What is the “legal family” or basis of law in the country

d. What are the major components of the criminal justice system in the country

1) Please explain the following elements:

a. What crime did you commit? How were you caught? In other words, briefly set up the scenario.

b. Explain the country specific law

c. Explain from first contact through arrest and questioning your experience with the country’s law enforcement officials

d. Explain the detention process you will experience as a foreign national for the crime you committed

e. Explain the judicial process you’ll experience for the crime you committed

f. Explain the detention, corrections, and/or incarceration process you’ll experience for the crime you committed

1) Provide an analysis on:

a. The effectiveness of the criminal justice system in the country

b. The human rights perspective of how you were treated through the lens of the country where you were caught

c. A Holy Bible comparison/analysis of the criminal justice system of the country where you were caught

Prepare a 10 slide PowerPoint Presentation. Title slide(s) and reference slide(s) do not count toward the slide count. The vast slide count difference is due to the fact that some countries are quite easy to study and some countries have very limited information. In some instances there will be a plethora of information and you must use skilled writing to maintain proper slide count. Please keep in mind that this is a doctoral level presentation. Your research must go beyond the mere textbook and have a minimum of 8 scholarly sources. The Holy Bible should be used at least once in the PowerPoint presentation. Each slide (of the 10 to 17 slides) must have 200 to 350 words of bulleted or paragraph speakers notes (in speaker notes section of the slide build). The slides should be professional and not cluttered with too many words. The sources should be reflected in the speaker notes, slides, and “reference section slide”. Additionally, you, the student, should use animations, transitions, and graphics to reflect PhD level research. Please review the grading rubric when forming your presentation. Sources should reflect scholarly work but may include .gov information is there is an author or if the information comes from a valid government research database (think CIA or State Department). Current APA format must be used.

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