Inside Crown Court: Personal Experiences and Questions of Legitimacy

ISBN-13: 9781447317050 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 250 str.

Jessica Jacobson; Gillian Hunter; Amy Kirby

Opis

Within the criminal justice systems of England and Wales, the Crown Court is the arena in which serious criminal offenses are prosecuted and sentenced. Based on up-to-date ethnographic research, including interviews and field observations, this timely book provides a vivid description of what it is like to attend court as a victim, a witness, or a defendant; the interplay between the different players in the courtroom; and the extent to which the court process is viewed as legitimate by those involved in it. While its research is focused on the Crown Court, the book s findings are far from narrow. This valuable addition to the field brings to life the range of issues involved in jurisprudence and will be of great interest to students and scholars of criminal justice, policy makers and practitioners, and interested members of the general public the world over."

Spis treści

Foreword: David Ormerod, Law Commission; Introduction; The system: what is the Crown Court and what are its functions?; Court process and performance: constructing versions of ‘the truth’; Them and us: the divide between court users and professionals; Structured mayhem: the organised yet chaotic nature of court proceedings; Reluctant conformity: court users’ compliance with the court process; Legitimacy: court users’ perceived obligation to obey, and what this is based on; Conclusion.