What should criminal 'justice' look like? What is at stake if the system fails to deliver? You will engage in a critical study of the contemporary challenges facing the English and Welsh criminal justice system. By introducing you to some of the political priorities of the recent past, you will learn to contextualise, analyse and critique recent policy and practice. You will be provided with the theoretical lenses – from fields of law, psychology, economics and politics – to enable you to articulate how the system is or is not delivering for victims, defendants, professionals and the public. The English and Welsh system is spotlighted but students may draw on other jurisdictions for comparative purposes. In the context of lengthy court delays, striking barristers, the rise to prominence of the role of the victim and concerns about defendant rights to access to justice, the functioning of the criminal justice system has never been more contested yet essential.
Lectures 5
Workshops/ Seminars 19
Written- Extended writing- Short Essay -1,250 words -30%
Written- Extended writing- Extended essay- 2750 words- 70%
Reassessment methods : Single instrument 100% written assessment (4,000 words)
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successfully completing the module, students will be able to:
1) Comprehensively and systematically identify current problems and issues pertaining to the English and Welsh criminal justice system;
2) Critically evaluate the neoliberal and populist discourses prevalent in discussions of criminal justice and their impact on the criminal justice system;
3) Critically appraise theories of criminal justice as well as academic methodologies and materials, and critiques of them, and, where appropriate, propose new ways of thinking about criminal justice;
4) Explain in depth the purpose of the criminal justice system and the rule of law and critically evaluate current research, advanced scholarship in the discipline, and policies being deployed in practice;
5) Expertly communicate to specialist audiences;
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