This book combines extracts and materials on criminal justice with substantial critical discussion and analysis. It provides convenient access for students to a range of important materials from journal articles, official reports, statistical surveys, reports from pressure groups, Home Office studies and other sources. Chapters address the key stages of the criminal justice system in sequence: entry to the criminal justice system; investigating crime and preparing prosecution cases; courts and trials; and sentencing. The book is also structured around five key themes: the management of discretion, allocating resources, community and community values, fairness and discrimination, and victims of crime. Throughout the authors are concerned to explain the criminal justice process in terms of a series of interrelated decisions, stressing the importance of individual discretion and decision-making by criminal justice agencies. The authors have published widely in the field of criminal justice, and have been invovled in teaching criminal justice at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and on professional courses.
