Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Thematic Problems and the Prospects for Reform

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Public Prosecutors in the United States and Europe

  • 847 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter addresses some specific problems identified in the U.S. criminal justice system and proposes solutions. Furthermore, it discusses the problems related to the increase of prosecutorial power and the lessons the Swiss legal system can learn from U.S. experience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Tonry (2004), pp. 206–210.

  2. 2.

    Tonry (2004), p. 207.

  3. 3.

    Tonry (2004), pp. 207, 209.

  4. 4.

    Tonry (2004), p. 209.

  5. 5.

    Tonry (2004), p. 209.

  6. 6.

    Tonry (2004), p. 208.

  7. 7.

    Luna and Wade (2010), pp. 1514–1526.

  8. 8.

    For more details about clinical legal education and its importance, see e.g. Reno (2005), Caplow (2005), Montoya (2005), and Smith (2005).

  9. 9.

    Luna and Wade (2010), pp. 1514–1519.

  10. 10.

    Joy (2005), p. 980.

  11. 11.

    On the reasons for misconduct, see Sect. 5.4.3.

  12. 12.

    “Law schools fail to complement the focus on skill in legal analysis with effective support for developing ethical and social skills. Students need opportunities to learn about, reflect on and practice the responsibilities of legal professionals. Despite progress in making legal ethics a part of the curriculum, law schools rarely pay attention to the social and cultural contexts of legal institutions and the varied forms of legal practice” (Sullivan et al. 2007, p. 187).

  13. 13.

    Sullivan et al. (2007), p. 197.

  14. 14.

    For an overview, see Coughlin et al. (2011), pp. 283–284.

  15. 15.

    Luna and Wade (2010), pp. 1519–1526. See also Frase (1998).

  16. 16.

    Luna and Wade (2010), pp. 1523–1524.

  17. 17.

    Luna and Wade (2010), p. 1529.

  18. 18.

    “[I]ncreasing similarity means that potential “donor” and “recipient” systems have become more compatible, thus lessening the risk of “rejection” of legal transplants. The fact that foreign systems have already borrowed many practices from the United States, and from each other, shows that such international legal transplants are indeed feasible, even across systems that remain fundamentally different in important respects.” (Frase 1998, p. 780).

  19. 19.

    Robert Johnson was first elected in 1982 and re-elected in 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006. In 2010 he retired and thus didn’t run for election anymore.

  20. 20.

    Informal discussion with former Anoka County Attorney Robert M. Johnson on October 4, 2010 and email exchange on November 9, 2010.

  21. 21.

    See e.g. Gazal-Ayal (2006).

  22. 22.

    See also Turner (2009), pp. 274–275.

  23. 23.

    See also Luna and Wade (2010), p. 1512.

  24. 24.

    Luna and Wade (2010), p. 1512.

  25. 25.

    See Tonry (2004), p. 276.

  26. 26.

    See Recommendation Rec (2000) 19 of the Council of Europe stating the following at 17: “States should take appropriate measures to ensure that the legal status, the competencies and the procedural role of public prosecutors are established by law in a way that there can be no legitimate doubt about the independence and impartiality of the court judges. In particular states should guarantee that a person cannot at the same time perform duties as a public prosecutor and as a court judge.”

  27. 27.

    For a complete discussion of this problem, see Gilliéron (2010), pp. 101–146.

References

  • Caplow S (2005) “Taking too Close to the Wind”: the challenge to prosecution clinics to set our students on a straight course. Miss Law J 74(4):919–953

    Google Scholar 

  • Coughlin CN, McElroy LT, Gordon DS (2011) The Carnegie Report and legal writing: does the report go far enough? J Leg Writ Inst 17:279–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Frase RS (1998) Main-streaming comparative criminal justice: how to incorporate comparative and international concepts and materials into basic criminal law and procedure courses. West VA Law Rev 100:773–798

    Google Scholar 

  • Gazal-Ayal O (2006) Partial ban on plea bargains. Cardozo Law Rev 27:2295–2351

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilliéron G (2010) Strafbefehlsverfahren und plea bargaining als Quelle von Fehlurteilen. Schulthess, Zurich

    Google Scholar 

  • Joy PA (2005) Prosecution clinics: dealing with professional role. Miss Law J 74(4):955–981

    Google Scholar 

  • Luna E, Wade M (2010) Prosecutors as judges. Wash Lee Law Rev 67:1413–1532

    Google Scholar 

  • Montoya J (2005) The University of San Diego criminal clinic: it’s all in the mix. Miss Law J 74(4):1021–1042

    Google Scholar 

  • Reno J (2005) The importance of prosecution training in Law School. Miss Law J 74(4):xi–xiv

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith LF (2005) Benefits of an integrated (prosecution & defense) criminal law clinic. Miss Law J 74(4):1239–1280

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan WM, Colby A, Welch Wegner J, Bond L, Shulman LS (2007) Educating lawyers. Preparation for the profession of law. Jossey-Bass/Wiley, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Tonry MH (2004) Thinking about crime. Sense and sensibility in American penal culture. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner JI (2009) Plea bargaining across borders. Criminal procedure. Aspen Publishers, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät, Universitäre Fernstudien Schweiz, Brig, Switzerland

    Gwladys Gilliéron

Authors
  1. Gwladys Gilliéron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gilliéron, G. (2014). Thematic Problems and the Prospects for Reform. In: Public Prosecutors in the United States and Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04504-7_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation