NCJ Number
73851
Journal
Home Office Research Bulletin Issue: 10 Dated: (1980) Pages: 10-13
Date Published
1980
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The study examines various aspects of the management of the prosecution process in Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands, focusing on the interaction among police, prosecutors, investigators, magistrates, the courts, and the defense counsel. It also uses study findings to make recommendations for the British system.
Abstract
A series of interviews were conducted with prosecutors, police, judges, and defense lawyers, and questions were based on sample cases which stimulated discussion on difficult issues in the management of prosecutions and discretionary decisionmaking. Although the prosecutorial systems in the countries studied differed considerably in their organizational details, common features were identifiable, including the use of career prosecutors who mount prosecutions, the relative openness of the procedures from the vantage point of the defense, and the muted role of conflict. All three countries emphasized avoidance of custodial measures and of criminal trials in matters perceived as minor. It is evident that prosecutors and defense counsel review prosecution files with care. Prosecutors do not generally take an active initiating role in the investigation of crime, although they do influence the direction which investigations take. In all three systems, the accused is accorded full disclosure and also access to the forensic facilities of the state. England and Wales should consider some of the findings of this study, in particular the careful vetting of cases before trial to ensure fewer trial challenges, the use of core prosecutors with limited powers to waive prosecution and make pretrial compromise and the reduction of conflict with more open interaction among all the criminal justice participants, before introducing a public prosecutor system. One reference is included.