POSSIBLE LESSONS FROM CONTINENTAL CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (FROM ECONOMIC OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, 1973, BY SIMON ROTTENBERG - SEE NCJ-11266)

• NCJ Number: 13320
• Author(s): J STEPAN
• Date Published: 1973
• Length: 0 pages
• Corporate Author: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE AMERICAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS IN NEED OF CHANGE AND SHOULD CONSIDER CERTAIN ELEMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN SYSTEM FOR POSSIBLE INCORPORATION.

Abstract

THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF THE CONTINENTAL CRIMINAL PROCEDURE IS OUTLINED BRIEFLY, FOLLOWED BY AN OVERVIEW OF SOME COMMON AND TYPICAL FEATURES OF THE MODERN CONTINENTAL CRIMINAL PROCESS. SOME COMPARISONS OF EUROPEAN AND ANGLO-AMERICAN PROCEDURE ARE MADE WITH THE AUTHOR SUGGESTING AREAS IN WHICH THE AMERICAN SYSTEM COULD BE INFLUENCED BY THE EUROPEAN MODEL. THESE AREAS INCLUDE ABOLISHING ARREST AS A TYPICAL FIRST STEP IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS, ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS INVOLVING FEDERAL JURISDICTION, THE CHARACTER OF THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, DISCRETIONARY POWERS OF THE PROSECUTION (PARTICULARLY PLEA BARGAINING) AND MAKING A DISTINCTION BETWEEN ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL OFFENSES. IN THE EUROPEAN SYSTEM, ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENSES ARE MINOR OFFENSES WHICH DO NOT INVOLVE COURT PROCEEDINGS AND ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE CRIMINAL RECORD.