I was watching Law&Order UK, and saw cops had much freedom. After little research, I have questions?

[thom]

I always saw England as a civilized place. But when I watched this show, in comparison to other Law and Order series that are placed in the USA, I noted that the UK cops had much less rules to keep them from invading peoples privacy, and to insure they did not misuse their office when gathering evidence. They barge into homes and expect to be allowed entry. They question suspects at their convenience, and the citizens have no other option then co operation. They can look into the books of a business even when they have no warrant to do so. In fact they don't have to have a real reason to go looking into anything other then it might lead to some useful information, and they want to do it. They need to provide no theory, no proof, just curiosity. Whats next? Throwing black bags over suspects heads?

But worst of all, they treat juvenile witnesses and suspects the exact same way as adult ones. No child advocate present. No need to ask permission from the parents. The most awful part in the show was the police asking a frightened young girl to empty her purse. She was not committing any crime at the time, they had no warrant. She was not on school grounds where a school official could demand this. She was just on the street, and the officer simply wanted to know what she had. Now I wonder how close to the truth this is in practice.

I researched it online to the degree that I know that much of this is true. But I am not sure on some accounts. First of all, as solicitors are not the same as lawyers, can someone explain how representation is provided for people? How does an accused person make sure there is someone with them at all the times they may need advice? Do English people even care that this is provided to someone? Does England even believe in innocent until proven guilty? Does the English Constitution( or whatever there is in its place) recognize that children may not understand that they are incriminating themselves, and need extra help when problems arise? Do the English courts force people to testify against a spouse? Do the English expect someone to incriminate themselves? From the show, which seemed about as correct as shows tend to be, you could easily say that their solving of the crime by such means would create more harm then good. Why do the citizens of the UK allow for this? Are they not worried for their children? For themselves if they are wrongly accused, or if they fall prey to unfortunate circs and commit a felony? Also, although this is not directly related, but why do they allow CCTV that essentially spies on the citizenry? We also have it in certan logical areas in the US, but NOT the way its allowed in England. I can't be sure I am correct in all of this, so I am hoping that it is not so oppressive as I now think.

[colfre]

oh for god sake are you judge our country with TV episodes? half of it can't b bothers to read the it?

[elton]

I've never seen it, but you seem to be missing one important thing - it's a TV show.

No, police cannot just enter a home without a warrant.

The police do have stop and search powers which are intended to counter street crime. The vast majority of people will never experience this.
"A police officer, or a community support officer must have a good reason for stopping or searching you and they are required to tell you what that reason is."

"solicitors are not the same as lawyers"
- yes they are.

"How does an accused person make sure there is someone with them at all the times they may need advice?"
- by asking to have their solicitor present during any police questioning. This is a legal right.

"Does England even believe in innocent until proven guilty?"
- I think you'll find we invented the concept.

"Does the English Constitution... recognize that children may not understand that they are incriminating themselves, and need extra help when problems arise?"
- Yes.

"Do the English courts force people to testify against a spouse?"
If their spouse is on trial and they are called as a witness, they must give evidence. What they say when in the dock is up to them.

"Do the English expect someone to incriminate themselves?"
- No, we expect our criminals to be more intelligent than that.

"why do they allow CCTV that essentially spies on the citizenry?"
- Because it cuts crime and catches criminals, and most of us are OK with it.


If you are a US citizen you are in no position to criticise the British police and legal system. You live in in a country where a man who has just shot someone dead is allowed to walk free, a country that holds political prisoners indefinitely and without charge in an offshore prison, a country that abuses anti-terrorism legislation to prosecute someone for copyright infringement, a country which uses entrapment to humiliate, shackle and imprison an elderly citizen of another country for the crime of agreeing to ship some batteries to Holland, a crime that was not even committed in the US.
Given the choice of facing the legal system of the UK or the USA, I would take the UK system any time. It is not perfect, but it is better than the corrupt, money-driven media circus that you have.