NCJ Number
135987
Journal
International Criminal Justice Review Volume: 1 Dated: (1991) Pages: 21-34
Date Published
1991
Length
14 pages
Annotation
There were two attempts by correctional officials in England and Wales to adapt bail interviewing procedures that had been pioneered by the Vera Institute in the United States.
Abstract
In the 1960's, the Vera Institute linked prison overcrowding to judges' use of high bail as a means of ensuring pretrial detention; the institute used interviews with defendants to get judges information on their community and family ties in order to secure more pretrial releases. In the 1970's the British Home Office, responding to criticism of the high rate of pretrial remand, asked Vera to adapt its bail work to the British context. However, the project failed, largely due to the opposition of the unionized National Association of Probation Officers to bail interviewing. In addition, bail interviewing had no natural bureaucratic constituency in England. In 1985, the Prosecution of Offenses Act created the Crown Prosecution Service and triggered a second attempt to introduce bail interviews in England and Wales. At this point, most prosecutors supported the idea of bail interviewing, and the organizational culture differences encountered during the first attempt at a cross-national policy transfer were overcome. 2 notes and 38 references