Comparative Criminal Procedure

Catalog description

CJHS 550 Comparative Criminal Procedure is an elective course for the MA in Criminal Justice and Human Security. The course has four main sections. First, we begin by reviewing how criminal procedure relates to desired standards of democracy and the rule of law. Taking a topic approach organized according to the chronological phases of the criminal process, we examine five distinct stages of this process; (1) investigation, (2) arrest, search, and seizure, and (3) interrogation, (4) pre-trial court procedures, and (5) the trial itself. In each phase, students first examine criminal procedure principles and practices in the U.S., and then examine these principles and practices in 12 other countries, including England, France, Germany, and Italy from Europe; Russia (exemplifying the post-Soviet world), Israel (illustrating a “security state”), Egypt and South Africa representing Africa, and Argentina and Mexico representing Latin America. Third, we turn our attention to reform movements abroad, with particular attention to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) and Latin America, including recent reforms in Chile and ongoing reforms in Colombia and Mexico. This section highlights the origins of these reform movements and the assessment of the effects of reform. Finally, drawing on the insights gathered from the comparative analysis above, we return to the U.S. to examine how best practices identified elsewhere compare with current practices here at home.