Outline the key features of the 'crime control' and 'due process' models of criminal justice

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Outline the key features of the 'crime control' and 'due process' models of criminal justice. Discuss whether these models serve a useful function in understanding the criminal justice process,

Throughout this essay I shall outline Herbert Packers' two models of criminal justice, these being the 'due process' model and the 'crime control' model and examine the traditional theories that surround these two models whilst discussing how they influence our understanding of the criminal justice process. I shall explain how the models fit into different agencies that are involved in the criminal justice system and how 'due process' and 'crime control' apply and influence such agencies in decision making and working practice. It would firstly be wise to provide some insight into describing the criminal justice process and what it entails before going onto explaining Packers two models.

According to Davies, Croall & Tyrer (1998, p. 2) 'criminal justice is about society's formal response to crime and is defined more specifically in terms of a series of decisions and actions taken by a number of agencies in response to a specific crime or criminal or crime in general'. In other words the criminal justice system consists of a number