News

Laurène Soubise presents paper at the Fordham Law School

On 8 and 9 December, Laurene Soubise attended an international legal ethics conference that brought more than 50 law scholars and lawyers to Fordham Law School (in New York) from around the world. The theme of the conference was “Regulation of Legal and Judicial Services: Comparative and International Perspectives” and it was hosted by the Stein Center for Law and Ethics. Laurene presented a paper with Prof Alice Woolley from Calgary University (Canada) entitled 'Prosecutors in Pursuit of the Public Interest: Challenges Across Jurisdictions'. The paper will be published next year in the Fordham International Law Journal.

Wed 27 Dec 2017, 00:39 | Tags: Conference, Laurène Soubise

Jacqueline Hodgson writes expert comment on the decision to allow a small number of prisoners the right to vote

A 12-year stand-off came to an end this week when a British compromise offer to extend the franchise in very limited circumstances was accepted by the Council of Europe. Warwick Law School Professor Jacqueline Hodgson has written why this issue has been so controversial and why has it taken the UK 12 years to finally fall into line. Further details here.

Sat 09 Dec 2017, 20:12 | Tags: Jackie Hodgson

Conference Call - ‘Punishment: Negotiating Society’ at Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

The International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS-REMEP) has issued a call for papers for its upcoming conference titled ‘Punishment: Negotiating Society’. The conference shall be held at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle (Saale), Germany on 14 – 16 February 2018. Professor John Pratt as the keynote speaker of the conference shall be speaking on “The end of penal populism; the rise of political populism?”

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 31 December 2017. Further details can be accessed here.

Wed 06 Dec 2017, 21:43 | Tags: Conference, Criminal Justice, Criminology, Penal Populism, Punishment

Book launch of Henrique Carvalho's ‘The Preventive Turn in Criminal Law’ (Oxford University Press) hosted by the CJC

The Criminal Justice Centre hosted the launching of Dr. Henrique Carvalho's book ‘The Preventive Turn in Criminal Law’ last Thursday, November 30, 2017. ‘The Preventive Turn in Criminal Law’, offers the latest addition to the Oxford Monographs on Criminal Law and Justice published by OUP (Oxford University Press). This new book seeks to understand where the impulse for prevention in criminal law comes from, and why this preventive dimension seems to be expanding in recent times. The series aims to cover all aspects of criminal law and procedure including criminal evidence and encompassing both practical and theoretical works. The general idea of a ‘preventive turn’ in criminal law is a modern spate of new criminal offences that criminalise conduct that happens much earlier than the actual harm which they are trying to prevent.

The book launching ceremony was well attended by many members of the Law School family at Warwick and beyond. Professor Lucia Zedner (Oxford), Professor Peter Ramsay (LSE) and Professor Alan Norrie (Warwick) were present as discussants. The event concluded with a wine reception.

Henrique Book launch

Sat 02 Dec 2017, 11:09 | Tags: CJC Events, Criminal Justice, Future of CJ systems, Henrique Carvalho, Punishment

CJC member Laurène Soubise's paper published in Criminal Law Review

Laurène Soubise's new article on prosecutions in the magistrates' courts has been published in the November edition of the Criminal Law Review. Titled 'Prosecuting in the Magistrates' Courts in a Time of Austerity', the paper is based on Laurène's doctoral research project. The following is a brief blurb describing the paper:

Summary proceedings in the magistrates’ courts have always been a quicker and cheaper way to process minor criminal cases, compared to trial by jury at the Crown Court. Research studies have shown how defence lawyers have made those cases routine so that they could be processed rapidly and cost-effectively through the system. However, there has been little research on how the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deals with magistrates’ court cases. Basing its analysis upon direct observations and interviews with CPS staff, this paper examines the impact of efficiency concerns and recent budget cuts on the way cases are prosecuted by the CPS at the magistrates’ court. It shows how, taking advantage of routinised defence practices, most of the CPS magistrates’ court advocacy has been delegated to Associate Prosecutors (APs). This delegation to less-qualified personnel reinforces the bureaucratisation of summary justice as it is based on decisions being made in the prosecutor’s office, instead of open court. In practice, oversight by Crown Prosecutors is limited as the constraints of court advocacy run against the rules governing APs powers.

Fri 10 Nov 2017, 00:13 | Tags: Laurène Soubise, Publication