In this Very Short Introduction Julian V. Roberts identifies the principal objectives of the criminal justice system and the way in which it works around the world.

Increasingly, structured sentencing guidelines are being introduce to frame judicial discretion. This volume is the first to examine the experience in England and Wales in the light of international developments.

This latest volume in the Penal Theory and Penal Ethics series addresses one of the oldestquestions in the field of criminal sentencing: should an offender's previous convictions affect the sentence?

In this book the authors report findings from the first systematic exploration of public attitudes to sentencing murder in this or any other common law jurisdiction.

Yet the vast literature on sentencing policy, law, and practice has generally overlooked the issue of prior convictions, even though this is the most important sentencing factor after the seriousness of the crime.

For many repeat offenders, previous convictions have more impact on their penalty than the seriousness of their current crime.

The five countries examined are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

This book analyses the effectiveness of this approach and explores its implications for offenders and society as a whole.

Which factors shape public opinion of criminal justice? How do the views of the public influence criminal justice policy and practice? This book provides an introduction to public attitudes towards criminal justice.

Sentencing Multiple Crimes confronts the practical and theoretical challenges for the criminal justice system when punishing multiple crime offenders, including the proportionality of the crimes committed, the temporal span between the ...