Search results for ""author mike mcconville""

The political, economic and social transformations that have taken place in China over the last half-century have had a major impact upon the formal methods, institutions and mechanisms used to deal with alleged criminal infractions. This path-breaking book, based upon the largest and most systematic empirical inquiry ever undertaken in China, analyzes the extent to which changes to the formal legal structure have resulted in changes to the law in practice. With unprecedented access to prosecution case files, observation of live trials and interviews with judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers, the book paints a uniquely detailed picture of China's criminal justice system as it operates in everyday cases. Among the major themes explored are: bail; detention; torture; confessions; the role of police, prosecutors and judges; the work of defence lawyers; pre-trial and trial practice; and sentencing practices, including the death penalty. The book shows, through volumes of quantitative data and the voices of judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers, how the party-state continues to influence and control both the process and outcome of criminal trials through an elaborate system of audit and sanction, the result of which is a system of aggregate rather than individual justice. With a wealth of original empirical data, this book will be of significant interest to academics and postgraduate students in the general area of Chinese Studies, human rights, criminal justice and comparative criminal justice. Policy makers, politicians and development agencies will also find it invaluable.With contributions from: Satnam Choongh, Pinky Choy Dick Wan, Eric Chui Wing Hong, Ian Dobinson and Carol Jones

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The political, economic and social transformations that have taken place in China over the last half-century have had a major impact upon the formal methods, institutions and mechanisms used to deal with alleged criminal infractions. This path-breaking book, based upon the largest and most systematic empirical inquiry ever undertaken in China, analyzes the extent to which changes to the formal legal structure have resulted in changes to the law in practice. With unprecedented access to prosecution case files, observation of live trials and interviews with judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers, the book paints a uniquely detailed picture of China's criminal justice system as it operates in everyday cases. Among the major themes explored are: bail; detention; torture; confessions; the role of police, prosecutors and judges; the work of defence lawyers; pre-trial and trial practice; and sentencing practices, including the death penalty. The book shows, through volumes of quantitative data and the voices of judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers, how the party-state continues to influence and control both the process and outcome of criminal trials through an elaborate system of audit and sanction, the result of which is a system of aggregate rather than individual justice. With a wealth of original empirical data, this book will be of significant interest to academics and postgraduate students in the general area of Chinese Studies, human rights, criminal justice and comparative criminal justice. Policy makers, politicians and development agencies will also find it invaluable.With contributions from: Satnam Choongh, Pinky Choy Dick Wan, Eric Chui Wing Hong, Ian Dobinson and Carol Jones

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In this important book, two knowledgeable and perceptive observers offer a damning indictment of British criminal justice. McConville and Marsh repeatedly skewer the pious pronouncements of panglossian judges with down-to-earth views of the assembly line. They describe a world of state-induced guilty pleas in which defendants are subjected to extraordinary pressure to 'freely' and 'voluntarily' bring about their own convictions, and they explain how this world came into being. These authors tell it like it is.'- Albert W. Alschuler,The University of Chicago, US'McConville and Marsh mount a powerful attack on the institutions of criminal justice: they examine a range of practices known as 'plea-bargaining' in the broader context of policing and the work of the CPS, defence solicitors and the Bar. Their detailed and historically-grounded study challenges the role of the courts in developing and refining the procedural framework for the guilty plea discount, and raises questions about the claim of the judiciary to be guardians of the right to a fair trial. A disturbing book for criminal justice.'- Andrew Ashworth, University of Oxford, UK'This is no ordinary esoteric lawyers textbook. It is a hard hitting, trenchant analysis of a system that has been seriously eroded and undermined over the course of my 46 years of practice in the criminal justice arena. Basic principles and protections have been ditched or watered down to accommodate the exigencies of political and economic dogma. Every citizen who stands by the need for due process, and the rule of law as mainstays of any democratic system, must read this carefully researched and well argued work.'- Michael Mansfield QC'A timely and sobering account of the realities of criminal justice. McConville and Marsh provide an important and informed critique of the manner in which the 'adversary ideal' and the principles on which the fairness of the criminal justice system is traditionally understood to rest are routinely and systematically undermined in practice.'- Sarah Summers, The University of Zurich, SwitzerlandThis provocative and powerful book provides a critical review of Britain's criminal justice process through its practices, culture and traditions, revealing a landscape in ruins under the dominance of State-induced Guilty Pleas.Against a backdrop of a dysfunctional criminal justice system, the authors bring an avalanche of legal and empirical material to question the legitimacy of the relationship between judges, lawyers, politicians and defendants in modern Britain. Examining existing legal structures and court practices through the lens of what used to be called plea bargaining the authors provide a graphic picture of why case disposals through enforced guilty pleas promote injustice, feed discrimination and skew the judicial function. This is the most comprehensive examination to date of case disposition methods in England, Wales and Scotland., underpinned by a new socio-legal theory on the criminal process.Criminal Judges is sure to provoke debate on the forces which drive the criminal justice process and will therefore be of great interest to all those concerned about the future of criminal justice policies and practices. It will appeal to academics, researchers, policy advisors and practitioners of criminal law.Contents: 1. Criminal Justice: System, Process and Legitimacy 2. Helping the Police with their Inquiries 3. State-Induced Guilty Pleas and Legitimacy 4. Lowering the Bar 5. Institutional Distress: the State 6. Institutional Distress: the Defence 7. Scotland: Coercion and Discourse 8. Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Comparative Perspectives on Criminal Justice in China is highly recommended. The editors have assembled the leading Western and Chinese scholars in the field to examine the administration of criminal justice in China, showing both how far the system has come and the challenges that lie ahead. This is an important and timely book. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand or has to deal with the Chinese criminal justice system.'- Klaus Mühlhahn, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany'This highly informative and engaging volume on the Chinese criminal justice system today provides a window into the vagaries of law and its operation in the People's Republic. McConville and Pils bring together an impressive array of scholars whose studies span the criminal process. From initial police investigation, through to prosecution and sentencing of defendants, we see how dominant values in the Chinese state and its structures of power make the practice of criminal justice today still intensely political.'- Susan Trevaskes, Griffith University, AustraliaComparative Perspectives on Criminal Justice in China is an anthology of chapters on the contemporary criminal justice system in mainland China, bringing together the work of recognised scholars from China and around the world.The book addresses issues at various stages of the criminal justice process (investigation and prosecution of crime and criminal trial) as well as problems pertaining to criminal defence and to parallel systems of punishment. All of the contributions discuss the criminal justice system in the context of China's legal reforms. Several of the contributions urge the conclusion that the criminal process and related processes remain marred by overwhelming powers of the police and Party-State, and a chapter discussing China's 2012 revision of its Criminal Procedure Law argues that the revision is unlikely to bring significant improvement.This diverse comparative study will appeal to academics in Chinese law, society and politics, members of the human rights NGO and diplomatic communities as well as legal professionals interested in China.Contributors include: I. Belkin, S. Biddulph, G. Chen, W. Chen, Y.-J. Chen, J.A. Cohen, I. Dobinson, Z. Guo, J. He, R. He, H. Fu, J. Jiang, R. Lan, S.B. Lubman, J. Ma, M. McConville, S.A. Mosher, E. Nesossi, E. Pils, J.D. Rosenzweig, F. Sapio, T. Stutsman, B. Teng, W. Zuo

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Introduces students to legalistic, theoretical, empirical, comparative and cross-disciplinary research methods, grounded in working examples. Drawing 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. New for this edition: a new 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 sociology; research ethics has been expanded to a full chapter that includes current plagiarism and imperfect disclosure; existing chapters have been brought up-to-date with the newest thinking in legal research.

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