Comparative Criminal Justice Systems

by Philip L. Reichel

Unique in its topical approach, this best-selling book examines systems of law, police, courts, and corrections by using more than 30 different countries to show the diversity in legal systems around the world. The book's organization helps readers understand the various ways policing, adjudication, and corrections systems can be organized and operated. This edition features more complete coverage of Islamic legal tradition, information on reform in Japan, more use of primary sources and updated material throughout. Fully updated to include more information on: The Patriot Act; Sunni and Shia Muslims; Substantive and procedural law changes for France, Germany, and Nigeria; Inquisitorial and adversarial systems; Trial under an inquisitorial proces; Juvenile justice system changes in England, Wales and China. Gives greater attention to the Islamic legal tradition and includes detailed descriptions of its key aspects. Reflect up-to-date events in Japanese criminal justice and covers changes that have been officially approved, but are not yet fully implemented. References the actual laws of many countries and provides additional information supplied by that country’s criminal justice agency. Anyone interested in criminal justice across the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crime

472 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This text was required for my Comparative Justice class. It was interesting reading, comparing the United States legal system with other countries. It's important to understand how other legal systems work so that we can make improvements in our own. Instead of breaking the subject matter down by country its broken down by topic. For example, there is a chapter on juvenile justice and it compares several countries juvenile systems. I ended up doing my term paper on the juvenile system in Saudi Arabia. Not pretty. There are other systems that deal with types of legal system (common, civil, socialist, Islamic), types of court proceedings (inquisitorial, adverserial, etc) and a section that discusses the death penalty. There are a ton of interesting boxes throughout with links to extenernal sites with fun and interesting information. I learned a lot from this book and found it to be one of the most enjoyable text book I've had in my major so far.

[Terrance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good way to learn about the criminal justice system in different cultures and countries.