Proportionality In Crime Control And Criminal Justice

This edited volume seeks to reassess the old and to analyse and develop novel approaches to the notion of proportionality in criminal matters and the new security architecture. The discourse is not limited to conventional constitutional constellations and standard problems of sentencing in traditional criminal proceedings. Rather, the book offers an interdisciplinary and cross-jurisdictional exploration of highly topical, proportionality-related issues pertinent to penal theory and legal philosophy, criminalisation policies, security and anti-terrorism strategies, alternative types of justice delivery, and supranational enforcement as well as human rights and international criminal and humanitarian law. In today's global risk society, with its numerous visible and invisible enemies of the state and the individual, balancing freedom and security has become nothing less than an attempt at untying a Gordian knot. Against this background, the proportionality of measures of crime prevention and repression is unquestionably an issue of utmost importance, which basic research and legal policy in rule-of-law based systems are urgently called to address. The timely and fascinating contributions in this book, covering jurisdictions from both the common law and the civil law as well as hybrid and international jurisdictions, will appeal to academics, researchers, policy advisers and practitioners working in the areas of national and international criminal law, comparative criminal justice/criminology and legal philosophy as well as constitutional and security law.

This edited volume seeks to reassess the old and to analyse and develop novel approaches to the notion of proportionality in criminal matters and the new security architecture. The discourse is not limited to conventional constitutional constellations and standard problems of sentencing in traditional criminal proceedings. Rather, the book offers an interdisciplinary and cross-jurisdictional exploration of highly topical, proportionality-related issues pertinent to penal theory and legal philosophy, criminalisation policies, security and anti-terrorism strategies, alternative types of justice delivery, and supranational enforcement as well as human rights and international criminal and humanitarian law. In today's global risk society, with its numerous visible and invisible enemies of the state and the individual, balancing freedom and security has become nothing less than an attempt at untying a Gordian knot. Against this background, the proportionality of measures of crime prevention and repression is unquestionably an issue of utmost importance, which basic research and legal policy in rule-of-law based systems are urgently called to address. The timely and fascinating contributions in this book, covering jurisdictions from both the common law and the civil law as well as hybrid and international jurisdictions, will appeal to academics, researchers, policy advisers and practitioners working in the areas of national and international criminal law, comparative criminal justice/criminology and legal philosophy as well as constitutional and security law.

While many in the criminal justice system would agree that the present punitive system of crime control is ineffective, unjust, and malevolent, there is little enthusiasm for talk about reforming the system or for a reexamination of its fundamental premises. In Justice as Sanctuary, noted Dutch criminologist Herman Bianchi details a new approach to crime control, one that promises to reanimate debate and initiate real change. He explores the cultural and religious roots of the current punitive system in search of new perspectives that can help create a more just and effective one. In the ancient Hebrew notion of tsedeka ("justice" or "righteousness"), Bianchi finds the inspiration for a new model of crime control based on conflict resolution rather than punishment. Because so many feel alienated from the criminal justice system, he argues for new procedures that will enable people to experience law as supportive of their lives and their social interactions. To complement the current punitive system, Bianchi proposes a system that provides victims and offenders a chance to resolve their conflicts and offers them the opportunity to reach non-punitive systems. By incorporating the concept of liability, Bianchi's model returns to offenders the responsibility for their acts while providing an active legal role for the victims of crime. It adapts structures and models from civil and labor law for conflict resolution of nonviolent crimes, and in the case of violent crimes, and in the case of violent crimes, proposes the creation of special "sanctuaries" that would protect the public while making it possible to effect true justice. Startling in its implications, Bianchi's system is not a utopian dream, but a carefully considered set of proposals that could be acted upon today.

A comparative and collaborative study of the foundational principles and concepts that underpin different domestic systems of criminal law.

This book examines the relationship between crime, demographic characteristics, criminal justice resources, court processing and final sanctioning outcomes at the court level in the U.S. in the context of deterrence theory. It concludes that current criminal justice practices, especially the extremely low probability of certain and severe punishment, make the deterrent effect of punishment minimal under the current system of criminal justice. Court caseloads, influenced particularly be the degree of inequality in the population, appear to be pushing down the formal penalty structures, and hence the probability of sanction. The inability of courts to produce severe and certain sanctions is also linked to the overfunding of police relative to other criminal justice agencies, especially the office of the prosecutor. Putting more cops on the beat might actually lead to further erosion of the deterrent effect of punishment, as more violators are pushed through the 'revolving door' of the courts.

Exploring the principles and values that should guide and limit the state's use of preventive techniques that involve coercion against the individual, this volume arises from a three-year study of Preventive Justice. The contributions examine whether and when preventive measures are justified, whether within or outwith the criminal law, and whether they signal a larger change in the architecture of security. Preventive measures include controversial crime control approaches such as pre-inchoate offences, pre-trial detention, restraining orders, and prevention detention of the dangerous. There are good reasons to justify state use of coercion to protect the public from harm, but while the rationales and justifications for state punishment have been extensively explored, the scope, limits, and principles of preventive justice have not received the same attention. This volume, written by world renowned scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds and jurisdictions, redresses the balance, assessing the foundations for the range of coercive measures that states now take in the name of prevention and public protection.

This book summarizes and synthesizes a vast body of research on the effects of legal punishment and criminal behavior. Covering studies conducted between 1967 and 2015, Punishment and Crime evaluates the assertion that legal punishment reduces crime by investigating the impacts, both positive and negative, of legal punishment on criminal behavior, with emphasis on the effects of punitive crime control policies via the mechanisms of deterrence and incapacitation. Brion Sever and Gary Kleck, author of the renowned Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, present a literature review on legal punishment in the United States that is unparalleled in depth and scope. This text is a must-read for students, researchers, and policymakers concerned with the fields of corrections and crime prevention.

This book aims to explore a number of connected themes relating to compliance, legitimacy and trust in different areas of criminal justice and socio-legal regulation.