The Metamorphosis of Criminal Justice

Book excerpt: In The Metamorphosis of Criminal Justice, Jacqueline S. Hodgson focuses on the potentially radical and fundamental changes taking place within criminal justice in Britain and in France and the ways that these are driven by wider domestic, European or international concerns. This metamorphosis away from established values and practices is eroding what were once regarded as core rights and freedoms in the name of efficiency, security, and justice to victims. Beginning with a comparative analysis of adversarial and inquisitorial procedural values and traditions, and an examination of broad trends in domestic and European criminal justice, Hodgson then discusses how the roles of prosecution and defense have been re-shaped in different ways in both jurisdictions--both in the text of the law and in their practices. The final section considers how systems within different procedural traditions adapt to address, or provide a remedy for, systemic flaws that produce wrongful convictions and in particular, the role of the defense in these procedures. By adopting an empirical and comparative approach, this book explores the nature and reach of these trends and the ways that they challenge and disrupt criminal processes and values.