Criminal justice under stress - Silvia Casale

Time and time again in recent years Britain's system of criminal justice has been shown to be under stress. Miscarriages of justice, prison overcrowding, delays in bringing cases to trial, allegations of racism within the system all have contributed to a general lack of public confidence in the criminal justice system.;This book brings together a group of authors with specific experience in particular areas of criminal justice. They range from John Alderson, a former Chief Constable of the Devon and Cornwall Police Force, to Joshua Rozenberg, the legal correspondent for BBC Television News and David Mathieson, a chief probation officer. The authors focus on some of the more conspicuous flaws in the criminal justice system and on some of the types of offender most frequently found within the process.;A recurrent theme within the book is the lack of co-ordination of aims and incentives in the process of criminal justice. The book suggests clear, coherent and consistently applied principles and standards are required and that these should include openess to public accountability and professional training of those to whom the State delegates its authority.;Judge Eric Stockdale has been a circuit judge for 20 years and Silvia Casale is an independent consultant in criminology currently working as a guest inspector with HM Prison Inspectorate and a consultant to NACRO on prison policy.