This title was first published in 2000: This text tackles the issues raised by comparative research into criminal justice on other cultures. How far does criminal justice reflect general culture? Can collaborative research overcome the problem of translating incommensurable concepts? What are the possibilities for "virtual comparisons"? How do we tell difference? The authors, drawn from a range of countries, offer reflections on international differences in the process of trial and punishment.

This reader provides a comprehensive introduction for students studying criminology at undergraduate level. Not only does the book include 34 essential readings, but also editorial commentary with section introductions, study questions, and suggestions for further reading. The reader will provide a thorough grounding in issues related to the study of crime, the criminal justice system, and social control. In their selection the editors have sought to indicate crime's varied and conflicting history as well as its current debates. The mixture of historical and more recent readings shows a variety of perspectives. The Reader will be an essential sourcebook for students and teachers in the fields of criminology, criminal justice studies, the sociology of crime and deviance, socio- legal studies, social policy, criminal law and social work.

This book presents primary research conducted in Italy, USA, Australia and the UK on countering strategies and institutional perceptions of Italian mafias and local organized crime groups. Through interviews and interpretation of original documents, this study firstly demonstrates the interaction between institutional understanding of the criminal threats and historical events that have shaped these perceptions. Secondly, it combines analysis of policies and criminal law provisions to identify how policing models which combat mafia and organised crime activities are organized and constructed in each country within a comparative perspective. After presenting the similarities between the four differing policing models, Sergi pushes the comparison further by identifying both conceptual and procedural convergences and divergences across both the four models and within international frameworks. By looking at topics as varied as mafia mobility, money laundering, drug networks and gang violence, this book ultimately seeks to reconsider the conceptualizations of both mafia and organized crime from a socio-behavioural and cultural perspective.

Plea bargaining is one of the most important and most discussed issues in modern criminal procedure law. Based on historical and comparative legal research, the author has analysed the wide-spread use of plea bargaining in different criminal justice systems. The book sets out in-depth studies of consensual case dispositions in the UK, examining how plea bargaining has developed and spread in England and Wales. It also goes on to discusses in detail the problems that this practise poses for the rule of law by avoiding procedural safe-guards. The book draws on empirical research in its examination of the absence of informal settlements in the former GDR, offering a unique insight into criminal procedure in a socialist legal system that has been little studied. Drawing on her research findings, the author goes on to discuss the extent to which plea bargaining should be developed in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, as the question of this practise is set to be one of the seminal debates in the development of international criminal procedures in the new International Criminal Court. Plea Bargaining in National and International Law will be of particular interest to academics and students of international criminal law, criminal procedures and comparative law.

Introduces students to legalistic, theoretical, empirical, comparative and cross-disciplinary research methods, grounded in working examplesNew for this editionNew chapter on inter- and cross-disciplinary research essential reading for international students and students with a non-law first degree undertaking research in the areas of law, criminology, psychology and sociologyResearch ethics has been expanded to a full chapter that includes current plagiarism and imperfect disclosureBrings existing chapters up to date with the newest thinking in legal researchDrawing on actual research projects, Research Methods for Law discusses how legal research as process impacts on research as product. The author team has a broad range of teaching and research experience in law, criminal justice and socio-legal studies, and give examples from real-life research products to illustrate the theory.

Criminal justice has traditionally been associated with the nation state, its legitimacy and its authority. The growing internationalisation of crime control raises crucial and complex questions about the future shape of justice and urban governance as these are experienced at local, national and international realms. The emergence of new international justice institutions such as the International Criminal Court, the greater movement of people and goods across national borders and the transfer of criminal justice policies between different jurisdictions all present novel challenges to criminal justice systems as well as our understandings of criminal justice. This volume of essays explores the implications and impact of criminal justice developments in an increasingly globalised world. It offers cutting-edge conceptual contributions from leading international commentators organised around the themes of international criminal justice institutions and practices; comparative penal policies; and international and comparative urban governance and crime control.

Women, Crime and Criminal Justice is the winner of the Division of International Criminology’s Distinguished Book Award 2014 and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences International Section's 2015 Outstanding Book Award and the first fully internationalised book to focus on women as offenders, victims and justice professionals. It provides background, as well as specialized information that allows readers to comprehend the global forces that shape women and crime; analyze different types of violence against women (in peacetime and in armed conflict); and grasp the challenges faced by women in justice professions such as the police, the judiciary and international peacekeeping. Provocative, highly topical, engaging and written by an expert in the field, this book examines the role of women in crime and criminal justice internationally. Topics covered include: the role of globalization and development in patterns of female offending and victimization, how a human rights framework can help explain women ́s crime, victimization and the criminal justice response, global women’s activism, international perspectives on violence against women, including femicide, violence in conflict and post conflict settings, sex work and sex trafficking, women’s access to justice, as well as the increased role of women in international criminal justice settings. This book will be essential reading for those involved in the study of development, human rights, governance, security sector reform, international relations and public health, as debates about these subjects are intrinsically linked to the issues surrounding women, crime and justice. It will also be useful for students taking courses on gender, crime and criminal justice, violence against women, international criminal justice and gender studies.

This edited volume contains 22 papers organized into three sections under the following headings: part I is entitled On Promoting Victim Policies; Part II On Reforming Criminal Justice; and Part III On Restorative Justice. All three areas are ones to which Tony Peters, former Professor of Criminology in Leuven, has made a significant contribution and for which he is known as an international authority. During his long and productive academic career Tony Peters led many struggles for criminal justice reform. He was a leading figure in the movement to recognize crime victims' plight and to reaffirm their rights. In Belgium, he spearheaded the early initiatives in restorative justice and became one of its outspoken proponents nationally and internationally. There is no doubt that these three major topics and the various developments and reforms that are addressed in the papers will dominate the thinking about, and the practice of, criminal justice in the years to come. Thus, in addition to paying homage to a congenial friend and an illustrious colleague, it is hoped that this book will appeal and prove useful to all those who have an interest in victims issues, in criminal justice reform, and last but not least, in the promising paradigm of restorative justice.