Admission requirements
Students who want to take this course need to be admitted to the master’s program in Comparative Criminal Justice.
Description
In the second half of the 20th century the numbers of crimes and suspects recorded have increased dramatically. Despite a more recent reduction of crimes in some western European states, there is little doubt that the quantitative expansion of criminal justice systems has had far-reaching impact on the way in which its actors operate.
Often described as a key player in the criminal justice system – ‘the gatekeeper to the courtroom’, the ‘engine’ or the ‘dynamo’ of criminal procedure – the public prosecutor is among the institutional actors which underwent the most significant transformations over the last few decades, with its functions and goals being increasingly redesigned. It is now apparent that the developments affecting the aims and the role of prosecution services have been caused by the increasing flood of proceedings to be handled at the preliminary stage. This state of things has led to the introduction of procedural shortcuts and simplifications–designed to prevent criminal cases to reach the court stage – which radically changed the role played by prosecutors, often by means of an increase in their discretionary power.
The primary objective of this course is describing the transformation of the functions performed by the prosecution services: indeed, as the pressure of increasing caseload grew, prosecutors have shifted from being simple actors of the criminal proceedings to performing a more ambitious role of conflict-resolution and case-settling. This has often been accompanied by the introduction of full-fledged alternatives to prosecution, used to divert cases away from the court system while subjecting suspects to various forms of restriction and deprivation. The international trends described above take place with a varying degree of intensity within national jurisdictions, mostly depending on the general principles governing prosecution at national level (e.g. principles of expediency or principle of legality; adversarial or inquisitorial legal system, etc.).
The course will look at the different models of prosecution emerging from a comparative analysis, in order to outline the way in which prosecution services manage to deal with a growing demand for ‘criminal justice intervention’. Attention will be paid to the procedural simplifications introduced to increase prosecutorial discretion and establish new forms of diversion at the pre-trial stage – thereby accentuating the decision-making powers of prosecutors. Emphasis will be placed on the dangers related to an unrestricted expansion of these diversionary schemes, raising awareness on the risks that such transformation poses to procedural and fundamental rights. Then, encouraging evidence on the effectiveness of pre-trial diversion treatments will be critically discussed. Finally, the course will address the problematic relationship between prosecutors and the police as well as the role played by victims in the prosecutorial decision-making.
Course objectives
Upon completing this course, students:
- Will be aware of the historical origins, developments and current status of prosecutorial organizations in a comparative perspective;
- Will discover how – from an organizational and sociological standpoint – prosecution services manage to deal with a growing number of cases;
- Will be able to reflect critically upon the actual distribution of powers within the ‘penal field’ at the pre-trialstage, by analysing the interaction between prosecutors, courts, and the police;
- Will combine their knowledge of the evidence-based effectiveness of pre-trial diversion programs with a more critical eye over the risks connected to an uncontrolled expansion of prosecutor's adjudicating powers
Employability and (academic) career
Participants train their skills in analyzing data, reviewing literature, presenting their research outcomes, debating, and developing criminal justice policies.
Timetable
Check MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
The course consists of seven (7) lectures, during which specific aspects of the assigned literature will be discussed. Students are expected to come prepared to the lectures, by reading the assigned literature. Lectures’ slides and other materials will be distributed online via Brightspace.
The lectures are divided into two main blocks; one focusing on ‘traditional’ modes of prosecution and one focusing of diversion strategies and alternatives to prosecution. At the end of each block, a mandatory seminar will take place. During these seminars (two in total), students will engage in group discussions, addressing practical questions based on the previous lectures. Seminars will also be devoted to collectively discussing the topics covered by the week’s assignment. All students are required to attend and actively participate during lectures and seminars.
Assessment method
The students’ final grade will be based on a portfolio (50%) and a final paper (50%).
For the portfolio, students will have to submit two individual papers, covering the topics discussed during the two different blocks of this course. For the final paper, students will have to write a final essay of 3,000 words on a selected topic.The topic of each paper and further instructions on the written assignments will be provided in class.
For the successful completion of the course, all the above mentioned requirements have to be met. Each component of the final grade must be completed with a passing mark (5,5 minimum). There will be a retake for both the portfolio papers and the final paper.
Written assignments that received a failing grade in the first attempt can be repaired. This means that the initially submitted assignment can be improved, based on the received feedback. The grade of an ‘improved’ assignment is capped at 6.0. To receive a grade in the full grading scale, students can choose to submit an entirely new assignment.
Reading list
The assigned literature will be provided on Brightspace and will be included in the course guide, which will be published online before the beginning of the course.
Registration
Registration for courses and exams takes place via MyStudymap. If you do not have access to MyStudymap (guest students), look here (under the Law-tab) for more information on the registration procedure in your situation.
Contact
Course coordinator: Konstantinos Zoumpoulakis
Availability: Monday till Friday, via email
E-mail: [k.zoumpoulakis@law.leidenuniv.nl]
Institute/department
Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology
Department: Criminology
Opening hours: 9.00 to 16.00
Telephone secretariat: 071 – 527 7871 / 527 7872 / 527 7462
Room number: B3.11
E-mail: criminologie@law.leidenuniv.nl