NCJ Number
224363
Journal
International Criminal Justice Review Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2008 Pages: 190-211
Date Published
June 2008
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article details the development of criminal prosecution in England, on the European continent, and in America.
Abstract
This article highlights the historical events that contributed to the evolution and transition of modes of prosecution and analyzes the impact of different historical, cultural, and political values on the shaping of the present prosecutorial systems in Europe and in America. Public prosecution is noted to be an indispensable feature of the modern day administration of criminal justice, and, as known today, also a product of long evolution. Historically, pursuit of crime was a private affair and there was no official involvement in criminal prosecution. This article explores the subsequent development of criminal prosecution in England, on the European continent, and in America. The first part of the article traces the evolution of modes of accusation in England and on the European continent. The second part of the article focuses on the development of prosecution in America from the colonial days until the formation of the modern American prosecutorial system. A significant difference in the two current systems in Europe and America noted from this discussion is the role of the prosecutor in the criminal justice system in terms of discretionary power and influence on policy. American prosecutors, in deciding what laws to enforce and which to ignore, are not only a reflection of current criminal justice policy, but a determining factor of it. References