Ethical and Professional Issues Essay

Explain the importance of codes of ethics in guiding practices and minimizing misconduct by criminal justice personnel during all stages of the criminal justice process.
Codes of ethics are crucial in guiding practices and minimizing misconduct by criminal justice personnel during all stages of the criminal justice process. In fact, criminal justice personnel cannot violate existing legal norms. At the same time, cases, when professionals working in law enforcement agencies or criminal justice system act unethically are quite frequent. In this regard, the unethical actions of the criminal justice personnel undermines the functioning of the criminal justice system because citizens lose confidence in the reliability of the criminal justice system, whereas its representatives are viewed as corrupt people, who act unethically.
At the same time, the introduction of codes of ethics could have helped professionals working in the criminal justice system to elaborate positive models of behavior. Codes of ethics could help them to understand fundamental principles, norms and rules of their work. As a result, they will know how to act in different circumstances and how to avoid the violation of ethical norms and rules.
On the other hand, it is important to understand that codes of ethics are not always effective because they have little, if any, legal background that means that professionals violating codes of ethics are not exposed to any legal liability. In addition, they are vulnerable to the impact of external factors, which may outweigh codes of ethics (Barak, G 2008). For instance, referring to the case of the robbery of a prominent citizen, law enforcement agents and the court were exposed to the impact of the public and media that could have affected their actions and forced them to neglect codes of ethics to meet requirements of the public.
What are the ethical requirements for prosecutors to seek justice, not merely to convict? How might these expectations be enhanced in the criminal justice system? Explain your answer.
Ethical requirements for prosecutors to seek justice should be the primary concern of prosecutors. To convict an offender is probably the easiest thing prosecutors can do but the point is not to imprison a suspect but to find out the truth, to reveal the truth about the offense. In this regard, codes of ethics could enhance the criminal justice system but still prosecutors should act responsibly and they should understand the main purpose of their work. In addition, they need mutual control over their work to identify errors or cases of misconduct (Braithwaite, 1995). For instance, prosecutors can discuss cases they were involved in in special teams and each prosecutor should be assessed and evaluated critically by his or her colleague to find out whether his or her actions were right and ethical or not.
What recourse does the court have in this scenario if it is proven that there has been misconduct on the part of the police or the prosecution? Explain your answer.
The court should decline evidence provided by the police as well as reject information and position of the prosecution in the case, if there has been misconduct. For instance, it is possible to refer to the Miranda Law as well as the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which protect citizens from unreasonable search and seizure as was the case of the suspect.