The “quiet revolution” in criminal defence: how the zealous advocate slipped into the shadow

The criminal defence lawyer has been an integral component of adversarial criminal justice in England and Wales for nearly three centuries. However, over the last two decades this essential role has changed substantially, affected by a changing culture in the law and procedure governing criminal justice in this jurisdiction. This article argues that the criminal defence role has been pulled away from its traditional adversarial roots through a process of subtle and gradual change, pursued by the Government and the Judiciary. The article outlines a normative framework, entitled the ‘zealous advocate’ model, describing the ‘traditional’ role of the criminal defence lawyer; discusses ethical conflict and its growing significance; and examines how legislation, case law and funding have gradually moved the defence lawyer away from a ‘client-first’ style of representation. It concludes by considering the potentially significant implications of such a change in the role for both fair trial rights and adversarialism in England and Wales.     

Risky business: A risk-based methodology to measure organized crime

This paper describes the result of two studies on the development of a methodology to measure organized crime. The purpose of these studies, tasked by the Belgian Federal Police and Minister for Justice, was to provide a concrete and knowledge-based framework for the drafting of annual reports on organized crime that can give better answers to questions like ‘Is there much organized crime? Is the situation serious? Is it bad that there are more criminal groups now than in the past? Which criminal groups are the most dangerous?’. Two features provide a common thread that binds the methodology: the operating principle of the spectrum of enterprise and the application of a risk-based methodological process to the overall framework. The starting hypothesis is that organized crime is entrepreneurial in nature and that the dynamics of the market space provide the main environment and explanation for organized crime. The application of a risk-based methodology is founded on the recognition that the analysis of organized crime will always depend on imperfect information and resource limitations. Furthermore, the utility of a risk-based approach is seen in the provision of findings that are transparently arrived at with a clearly established framework for prioritization of decision-makers. The proposed methodology consists of three parts: environmental scanning, analysis of organizations and counter strategies and licit and illicit sector analysis.     

减少关押看管：社区矫正的贡献

关押已经宣告为有罪或者正在等待审判的人员,是一个具有理论与实践价值的问题。本研究表明在一个关押率低的州,保释金支持项目能够分配到足够的资源,并以一种高姿态对待那些主要的决定者,这说明在司法系统审讯前和宣判阶段,对社区矫正的投资能够降低关押的财政和社会成本,社区矫正项目同时还有能力提升犯罪司法系统的有效性。但是,一些政治性因素,诸如“严厉打击犯罪”舆论的普及,将会限制澳大利亚人在自己的权限范围内采用社区为本的矫正方案。