Product Description

The Criminal Process addresses one of the most controversial areas of the entire criminal process: the pre-trial stage. Taking as his starting point the detention of suspects in policy custody, the author examines six key issues in the pre-trial process; the questioning of suspects, cautioning of offenders, prosecutorial review, remand decisions, mode of trial decisions, and plea bargaining. In this second edition, the European Convention on Human Rights is given even greater prominence in view of the Human Rights Acts 1998. The book brings principled argument and recent research findings to bear on legal developments such as the provisions on adverse inferences from silence in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994; the forthcoming changes in the cautioning of young offenders; the new system of 'plea before venue' for cases that might otherwise be committed to the Crown Court; and the statutory and other inducements for defendants to enter a guilty plea. This new edition also assesses recent criticisms of the Crown Prosecution Service, and places the controversial aspects of pre-trial justice within the framework of human rights. The book will continue to be the ideal text for all students of criminal justice and criminology, as well as academics and practitioners interested in the criminal justice system.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #620751 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 344 pages

About the Author
Andrew Ashworth is Vinerian Professor of English Law in the University of Oxford, and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. His publications include Principles of Criminal Law (OUP, 2nd edn, 1995), and Sentencing and Criminal Justice (Butterworths, 2nd edn, 1995).

Customer Reviews

Informative and up to date.
I have recently perchased 'The Criminal Process' in order to help me with my degree in criminal justice. I found the book most informative and useful when researching the Human Rights Act. This is a difficult area for a new student to come to grips with but Ashworth lays the facts out clearly and the reader is able to analyse refering back to his comments and opinions.

This book gives depth into the right of silence and its implications, also, the morality of this clause. This I could not find in another novel, being a controversial issue Ashworths opinions are not overbearing leaving the student to gain their own opinion. This is important as often textbooks give excess opinion which provides difficulty for your own scope. From reding the whole book I can see that the information will come in useful when doing other modules, such as wrongful imprisonment. Not only is the book factual it is unbiased while critically assesing the system. Highlighting reforms and further distance needed.

Overall, I would thoroughly recogment this book if you are completing a criminal law related degree, however, I also found myself reading for pleasure as the subjects are controversial and interesting. I found myself reding on even after the essay had been handed in.