Books in the Oxford Monographs on Criminal Law and Justice series

In the late 20th century, the law of sexual offenses began to reflect a striking divergence. On the one hand, it became significantly more punitive in its approach to nonconsensual sexual conduct, as in the case of rape and sexual assault. On the other hand, it became more permissive in how it dealt with putatively consensual sex, such as sodomy, adultery, and adult pornography. This book explores the conceptual and normative implications of this divergence. In doingso, it assumes that the proper role of criminal law in a liberal state is to protect individuals in their right not to be subjected to sexual contact against their will, while also safeguarding their right to engage in (private, consensual) sexual conduct in which they do wish to participate.Although consistent in the abstract, these dual aims frequently come into conflict in practice, as is explored in the context of a wide range of offenses.

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.

This book examines the whole of the pre-trial phase of criminal investigation including the law relating to confessions, the right to silence, the admissibility of evidence obtained during pre-trial investigation and the issue of improperly obtained evidence.

Professor Robinson provides a critique of the problem of classification within the criminal law. He presents a discussion of the conceptual framework of the law, and offers explanations of how and why formal structures do not match the operation of law in practice.

After a Commission chaired by Lord Diplock recommended that cases connected with the 'troubles' should be tried by judge alone, rather than jury, the Diplock Courts have been a controversial feature of Northern Ireland's response to political violence. This title assesses the impact of Diplock Courts and considers their broader implications.

Mental abnormality is becoming an increasingly important yet complex source of defence within the criminal trial process. This book contains a timely discussion of how the criminal law treats and applies defences such as insanity and diminished responsibility.

This volume draws together essays, from a number of leading authorities, which identify areas of the modern criminal law where there are significant conceptual difficulties. The subjects covered include justification, excuses, coercion, complicity, drug-dealing and criminal harm.

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.

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?

In the 21st century the legal process still fails to provide an adequate response to sexual violation and abuse. This text examines some of the difficulties which this crime presents and analyses in detail how the legal system could and should be addressing them.

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.

Aims to build on Alan Norrie's previous work in the philosophy of punishment and criminal law to develop a critique of Kantian justice thinking. It seeks to cast a bold light on these issues in a period when traditional thinking has undergone opposition.

This is the first book in recent years to reconsider the shape and details of the English law of homicide, a topic avoided by governments in their plans for law reform. It discusses how the law should define murder, how it should respond to provoked killings, how it should deal with mentally abnormal killers, etc.

Based on a large study of legal professional practice, involving nearly 50 solicitors' firms, this book offers a critical examination of the practices and organization of defence lawyers in Britain - from the moment of initial contact through to the preparation and presentation of defendants.

A philosophical inquiry into the foundations of provocation as a defence to murder, this book draws on historical and philosophical sources not normally linked with criminal law. It seeks to explain why and when action in anger is thought morally less blameworthy than premeditated action.

Assesses the influence of the public prosecutor in Scotland, the Netherlands, England, Wales and Germany over the process of sentencing offenders in the criminal justice system. The text develops three models of justice seeking to analyze and explain the increased use of prosecutorial power.

A thematic collection of essays on sentencing theory, this book considers: the justifications for the imposition of punishment by the State; the relationship between victims, offenders and the State; and a number of areas of sentencing policy that have given rise to particular difficulty.

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 is the first book in recent years to reconsider the shape and details of the English law of homicide, a topic avoided by governments in their plans for law reform. It discusses how the law should define murder, how it should respond to provoked killings, how it should deal with mentally abnormal killers, etc.

Written by leading philosophers and lawyers from the United States and the United Kingdom, this collection of original essays offers new insights into a range of principles of criminality. It advances our understanding of such key issues as what amounts to a criminal act or omission, the state of mind of the perpetrator, and defences.