<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> When early colonists first came to America, they did not include trained lawyers or other law - knowledgeable persons . Many parts of the criminal justice system in colonial America were similar to those in England, France, and the Dutch Republic . Gradually French and Dutch influences disappeared in the islands . What remained was the basic idea many had of the English common law system . </P> <P> This system was the best - known to seventeenth - century colonists . The common law system included a set of rules that were used to solve problems in society . It was based on the history of decisions previous judges had made instead of lawmaking codes or laws . This system made a distinction between two basic types of crimes: felonies and misdemeanors . The legal process, mostly for more serious crimes, involved a grand jury, composed of members of the community, which decided whether there was enough evidence for prosecution . However, in these proceedings no district attorneys or public prosecutors were available . The victim of the crime was responsible for instigating the prosecution and financing it . It was these fundamental principles that stuck with the colonists and were used selectively to create a new and unique criminal justice system . </P>

When was the criminal justice system established in the united states