Functioning Criminal Justice System

This sub-indicator assesses the extent to which the criminal investigation system and the prosecutorial system are functioning. This is based on the following criteria: the extent to which there are effective intelligence systems to support criminal investigators; proactive investigation methods, such as undercover operations; mechanisms to gather information and analyse evidence; proper storage and chain of custody procedures for material evidence; systems to protect witnesses and whistle-blowers and exchange information between criminal investigative service agencies; a sufficient number of criminal investigators; competence of criminal investigators; adequate resources; independence of forensic evidence; adequate training/education of prosecutors; prosecutors, investigators and judicial police that do not engage in corrupt practices and that understand the law; a sufficient number of prosecutors to handle caseloads; conduction of eyewitness identification of defendants in a manner that does not improperly disadvantage the accused.