Formalizing plea bargaining in justice and equality in the English legal system

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

6 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

03/30/2009

Category :

Law & contracts

Sub category :

Other law subjects

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Summary :

Introduction
Background
The practice of plea bargaining in England
American courts vs the English legal system
The report of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice
1. The key proposals
2. The Governmentas failure to follow the recommendations
A formalized system of plea bargaining in the English legal system
Objections to a formalized plea bargaining system
Conclusion

Abstract

Before discussing plea bargaining it is perhaps paramount to define what is meant by the expression. plea bargaining refers to 'the exchange of a guilty plea for a reduced charge or some hope of a reduced sentence.' In other words it is an agreement between the prosecution and the defense by which the accused changes his plea from not guilty to guilty in return for an offer by the prosecution or when the judge has informally let it be known that he will minimize the sentence if the accused pleads guilty. This essay will examine the history of plea bargaining in the english legal system, the current situation, compare our system to that in the United States of America and consider the impact of a formal system of plea bargaining on our legal system, justice and equality. Before the twentieth century, the vast majority of criminal cases in Anglo-American jurisdictions were disposed of by jury rather than by guilty plea. Guilty pleas were considered ill-advised, and empirical studies focusing on particular jurisdictions indicate that guilty pleas and plea bargaining in both the United States and the United Kingdom were relatively rare until the latter half of the nineteenth century.