Whois & Analysis for bjs.gov

The United States Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is a federal government agency belonging to the U.S. Department of Justice and a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System.

Established on 27 December 1979, the bureau collects, analyzes and publishes data relating to crime in the United States.

The agency publishes data regarding statistics gathered from the roughly fifty-thousand agencies that comprise the U.S. justice system on its Web site.

In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority.

The term "crime" does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition, though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes.

The most popular view is that crime is a category created by law; in other words, something is a crime if declared as such by the relevant and applicable law.

One proposed definition is that a crime or offence (or criminal offence) is an act harmful not only to some individual but also to a community, society or the state ("a public wrong").

Such acts are forbidden and punishable by law.

The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system.

The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against an individual accused of breaking the law.

The contemporary legal systems of the world are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these.

However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history and so incorporates individual variations.

A court is a tribunal, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law.

In both common law and civil law legal systems, courts are the central means for dispute resolution, and it is generally understood that all persons have an ability to bring their claims before a court.

Similarly, the rights of those accused of a crime include the right to present a defense before a court.