Wrongful Conviction: International Perspectives on Miscarriages of Justice

by C. Ronald Huff (Editor), Martin Killias (Editor)

Overview

Imperfections in the criminal justice system have long intrigued the general public and worried scholars and legal practitioners. In Wrongful Conviction, criminologists C. Ronald Huff and Martin Killias present an important collection of essays that analyzes cases of injustice across an array of legal systems, with contributors from North America, Europe and Israel. This collection includes a number of well-developed public-policy recommendations intended to reduce the instances of courts punishing innocents. It also offers suggestions for compensating more fairly those who are wrongfully convicted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592136476
Publisher:	Temple University Press
Publication date:	09/16/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	326
File size:	663 KB

About the Author

C. Ronald Huff is Professor of Criminology, Law and Society as well as Sociology at the University of California, Irvine.

Martin Killias is Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology at the Universities of Zurich and Lausanne.

Table of Contents

Part I: Cross-National Perspectives and Issues 

1. Introduction 

2. Wrongful Conviction and Moral Panic: National and International Prespectives on Organized Child Sexual Abuse 

3. Judicial Error and Forensic Science: Pondering the Contribution of DNA Evidence

Part II: North American Perspectives and Issues 

4. Wrongful Convictions in the United States 

5. The Adversary System and Wrongful Conviction 

6. Fatal Errors: Compelling Claims of Executions of the Innocent in the Post-Furman Era 

7. The Fallibility of Justice in Canada: A Critical Examination of Conviction Review

Part III: European and Israeli Perspectives and Issues 

8. Wrongful Convictions in Switzerland: The Experience of a Continental Law Country 

9. The Vulnerability of Dutch Criminal Procedure to Wrongful Conviction 

10. Criminal Justice and Miscarriages of Justice in England and Wales 

11. A Comparative Analysis of Prosecution in Germany and the United Kingdom: Searching for Truth or Getting a Conviction? 

12. Wrongful Conviction in France: The Limits of "Pourvoi en Revision" 

13. The Sanctity of Criminal Law: Thoughts and Reflections on Wrongful Conviction in Israel 

14. Wrongful Convictions in Poland: From the Communist Ero to the Rechtstaat Experience

Part IV: Conclusions 

15. Wrongful Convictions: Conclusions from an International Overview

Contributors 

Index

Editorial Reviews

"An important step in showing that even the best criminal justice systems occasionally convict the innocent. Huff and Killias, two of the world’s most accomplished criminologists, have given us a collection of essays that are both first-rate and truly sobering"

—Michael L. Radelet, University of Colorado, and author of In Spite of Innocence

From the Publisher