NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Chapter 6 - Understanding Our Criminal Justice System

Question 1:

In a town called Peace Land, the supporters of the Fiesta football team learn that the supporters of the Jubilee football team in the nearby city about 40 km away have damaged the ground on which the Final between both teams is to be held the following day. A crowd of Fiesta fans armed with deadly weapons attacks the homes of the supporters of the Jubilee football team in the town. In the attack, 10 men are killed, 5 women are gravely hurt, many homes are destroyed and over 50 people injured?
Imagine that you and your classmates are now part of the criminal justice system. First divide the class into the following four groups of persons.
(i) Police (ii) Public Prosecutor (iii) Defence Lawyer (iv) Judge
The column on the right provides a list of functions. Match these with the roles that are listed on the left. Have each group pick the functions that it needs to perform to bring justice to those who were affected by the violence of the Fiesta fans. In what order, will these functions be performed.

Now take the same situation, but ask one student who is a supporter of the Fiesta Club to perform all the functions listed above. Do you think the victims would get justice if only one person performed all of the functions of the criminal justice system? Why not? State two reasons why you believe that different persons need to play different roles as part of the criminal justice system.

Answer:

Police, Public Prosecutor, Defence Laywer and Judge will perform their functions in the following order:

Police:

  • Arrest the Fiesta Fans
  • Take photographs of burnt homes
  • Get the assaulted women medically examined.

Public Prosecutor:

  • Examine the witnesses in Court

Defence Lawyers:

  • Meet the accused persons
  • Cross examine the witnesses
  • Argue the case for the victim

Judge:

  • Conduct a fair trial
  • Record the statement of witnesses
  • Record the evidence
  • Pass the judgement
  • Decide for how many years the accused will be put in Jail
  • Write the judgement

For a fair trial and to do justice, it is essential that all the four types of functions should be performed by four different persons. If all the four functions are performed by one person, then the victim would not get justice. For delivering justice, all the four types of functions of Criminal Justice should be performed by four different persons.

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Question 2:

Why do you think there is a rule that confessions made during police custody cannot be used as evidence against the accused?

Answer:

Confessions made during police custody cannot be used as evidence against the accused because the accused could have confessed under pressure or tortured at the time of arrest by the police.

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Question 3:

What did the judge say in Shanti’s case after hearing the testimony of all the witnesses?

Answer:

After hearing the testimony of all the witnesses, the Judge gave the judgement and declared Shanti not guilty.

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