THIS HOUSE BELIEVES CRIMINAL JUSTICE SHOULD

FOCUS MORE ON REHABILITATION.

OPPO 2nd Speaker

Good morning, I bid to wise and honourable adjudicators, the precise timekeepers, my comrade
in arms who are always fighting for the truth, the worthy but misleading government team and to
all the members of the floor. The motion for today is CRIMINAL JUSTICE SHOULD FOCUS
MORE ON REHABILITATION. We as the opposition team, strongly disagree with the motion
stated above. Our definition for the motion today is The system of law enforcement that is
directly involved in apprehending, prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing those
who are suspected or convicted of criminal offenses should not focus more on the action of
restoring someone to health or normal life through training and therapy after imprisonment,
addiction, or illness. because we stand that [Mention Stand].

Stand - Rehabilitation is a false promise.

[Rebut 1st and 2nd Gov Points]
Now on to my points. My first point is Rehabilitation Doesnt actually work.
While some rehabilitative programmes work with some offenders (those who would probably
change by themselves anyway), most do not. Many programs cannot overcome, or even
appreciably reduce, the powerful tendency for offenders to continue in criminal behaviour.
PROOF - In Britain, where rehabilitation has long been purported to stop re-offending, 58 per
cent of those over-21 find themselves in trouble with the law within two years of release.
SOURCE - Stanford Peter. The road to redemption: Does the rehabilitation of prisoners
work?, The Independent, 23 August 2007. (A Newspaper)
So if we know that something doesnt work why do we keep doing it. This would be a waste
of resources and time.
PROOF - Britain spends 45,000 a year on each of its prisoners and yet 50% will go on to
re-offend, which translates into a dead investment of 2 billion annually.
SOURCE - Bois, N. D., Retribution and Rehabilitation: A Modern Conservative Justice
Policy. Dale & Co. 20 July 2011.
This leads to my next point which is Rehabilitation Does Not Serve The Needs of
Society
The primary goal of our criminal justice system is to remove offenders from general society
and protect law abiding citizens. Many criminals are repeat offenders and rehabilitation can
be a long and expensive process. In Jamaica, police claim repeat offenders are responsible
for over 80% of local crime despite rehabilitation programmes in prisons.
SOURCE - Chang, K. O. Lock up repeat offenders for life. Jamaica Gleaner, 17 September
2006.
Ideally therefore, retribution and rehabilitation should work hand in hand to protect citizens in
the short and long term. However the first priority is the removal of the convicted criminal
from society in order to protect the innocent. Rehabilitation should be a secondary concern.
The primary concern of the criminal justice system should be the protection of the non-guilty
parties. The needs of society are therefore met by the immediate removal of the offender.
OXFORD DICTIONARIES .COM
Criminal Justice - The system of law enforcement that is directly involved in
apprehending, prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing those who are suspected
or convicted of criminal offenses.
Rehabilitation - The action of restoring someone to health or normal life through training
and therapy after imprisonment, addiction, or illness.