Books in the Oxford Monographs on Criminal Law and Justice series

Through a combined philosophical, historical, and socio-legal methodology, this volume investigates the changing nature of criminal responsibility in English law from the mid-18th Century to the early 21st Century, arguing that ideas of character responsibility are enjoying a renaissance in the modern criminal law.

Preventive Justice looks at the use of coercive preventive measures by the state, both within and beyond criminal law. Examining preventive laws, measures, and institutions in and outside the criminal law, it explores the justifications given for using coercion to protect the public from harm.

This book provides a systematic, philosophically informed account of criminal responsibility. It begins by providing a general account of criminal responsibility based on the relationship between the action that the defendent has performed and their character. It then moves on to reconsider some of the central doctrines of criminal responsibility in the light of that account.

This book analyses the background to the demands to use criminal law sanctions against corporations, including the rise in the demand for corporate manslaughter prosecutions and the difficulties in attributing blame to an artificial body.

When should someone who may have intentionally or knowingly committed criminal wrongdoing be excused? This book examines what excusing conditions are, and why familiar excuses, such as duress, are thought to fulfil those conditions.

This book examines the legal and moral theory behind the law of evidence and proof, arguing that only by exploring the nature of responsibility in fact-finding can the role and purpose of much of the law be fully understood. Ho argues that the court must not only find the truth to do justice, it must do justice in finding the truth.

As the first in-depth empirical study of decision-making within the Criminal Cases Review Commission, this monograph reveals what happens to applications for post-conviction review when those in England and Wales who consider themselves to have been wrongfully convicted, and have exhausted direct appeal processes, take their case to the CCRC.

Democracy cannot function if the public loses faith in politicians, and that faith will be lost if politicians abuse their power with impunity. This book analyses the criminal offence of misconduct in office, and explains how it should be used, along with other measures, to hold politicians to account for abuse of their position.

A topical and lively discussion of how the criminal justice system attempts to ensure compliance with tax responsibility, discussing the development of tax evasion offences and the relationship between evasion and evidential rules, prosecution structures, and alternatives to prosecution.

Engaging with contemporary literature on criminal law, prevention, risk, security, and criminalisation, this volume argues that the pervasiveness of prevention in 21st century criminal justice systems represents the manifestation of essential aspects of the liberal legal and political tradition.

Bringing together previously disparate discussions on criminal responsibility from law, psychology, and philosophy, this book provides a close study of mental incapacity defences, tracing their development through historical cases to the modern era.

A fascinating study of the law of homicide, examining its recent development and providing an insider's view on the politics of law reform. Challenging current thought, it argues for the general public to have a greater role in the process of law reform including offenses such as murder, manslaughter, and the highly debated corporate homicide.

Until quite recently it was commonplace to describe the witness as the "forgotten man" in the criminal justice system. This book looks at the increasing recognition of the expectations and rights of witnesses within the criminal process.

Describes the development of the main principles of substantive criminal law during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book examines the forces which shaped criminal jurisprudence throughout the course of this period, paying particular attention to the activities of legislators and reformers.

Plea bargaining is among the most controversial practices within the US criminal justice system. It offers the accused less punishment in exchange for an admission of guilt and can impose added punishment on those who insist on going to trial. This book offers the first extended critical analysis of the ethics of the practice.

The use of character in the criminal trial raises a number of controversial issues such as the nature of criminal responsibility, the link between past and future behaviour, and the way juries and judges reason about evidence of prior wrongdoing. This book reassesses and reflects on the significance of the law's increasing emphasis on character.

The Insecurity State offers a theoretical explanation of the expansive and authoritarian trends in modern Anglo-American criminal law and policy. Taking the iconic ASBO as an archetype, it examines the political theory behind the growth of criminal law and argues that modern security law risks weakening political authority itself.

This work presents a critical look at the operation, theoretical basis, and possible reform of the rule against hearsay in criminal trials. The main focus of the book is on English law, but references also are made to the legal position in a number of other jurisdictions.

There is at least one consideration of the doctrine of abuse of process in virtually every major criminal trial today. This fully updated second edition blends doctrinal discussion with theory to provide a comparative analysis of abuse of process and focuses upon the profound impact of the ECHR in this area.

This work aims to provoke reflection on the English conception and treatment of prisoners' rights, through juxtaposition with prisoners' rights in Germany. The systems are compared and placed against a wider social background, and the methodological problems of comparative law are considered.

This work reflects the belief that a careful study of the Law of Attempts should be both interesting and a productive route into a number of larger and deeper issues in criminal law theory and in the philosophy of action. The book looks at English, Scottish and US law.

This book provides the first serious, sustained philosophical investigation of the criminal prosecution of domestic violence. It provides a theoretical framework for understanding ongoing debates regarding the criminal justice system's response to domestic violence.

This book draws upon philosophical arguments, criminological evidence, and legal literature on prisoners' rights and sentencing to explore the restrictions and deprivations that can be legitimately imposed on serious offenders in the name of punishment.

Presents a collection of essays offering consideration of the problem of strict liability in the criminal law: that is, the problem of criminal offences that allow a defendant to be convicted without proof of fault. Because of its potential to convict blameless persons, strict liability is a highly controversial phenomenon in the criminal law.

This collection examines questions of medical accountability and ethics. It analyses how the criminal justice system regulates health care practice, and to what extent it is appropriate to use it as a tool to resolve ethical conflict in health care.

Presents a collection of essays which tackle a range of issues about the criminal law's 'special part' - the part that defines specific offences. This work covers topics that include the scope of the criminal law: to what extent should it include offences of possession, or endangerment?

Deals with the principle of proportionality - the principle that a sentence should be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence committed. This book examines the detailed arguments for the theory and for applying it to a range of situations including young offenders, dangerous offenders and socially deprived offenders.

In what circumstances should we be allowed to kill an intruder who breaks into our home? Should battered women be forgiven for killing their husbands? This book analyses the questions raised by the argument of self-defence, and offers a unique theoretical framework for understanding the defence in the context of human rights norms.

This is the first book to take a comprehensive look at white collar criminal offenses from the perspective of moral and legal theory, focusing on the way in which key white-collar crimes such as fraud, perjury, bribery, extortion, insider trading, and tax evasion are shaped and informed by a range of familiar moral norms.

This important new work examines fundamental, but hitherto neglected, issues of national criminal law. Where and to whom does that law apply? When can domestic law apply to conduct that takes place abroad? The author examines the territorial and extraterritorial application of the criminal law, identifying defects, lacunae, and historical accidents, and suggests possible reforms.