Teaching Responsibility
LJMU Schools involved in Delivery:
Justice Studies
Learning Methods
Lecture
Seminar
Module Offerings
6020LAWCJ-JAN-MTP
Aims
The overall aim of this module is to examine the practices, policies, and philosophies of criminal justice in different cultural and geographical contexts and provide an overview of different types of criminal justice systems around the globe. It will trace the evolution of different criminal justice systems and assess their legal doctrines and applications of punishment. Comparative criminal justice studies identify four major legal traditions that each have their own respective body of laws: Common law; Civil law; Socialist law; and Sharia law. This module will focus upon the different types of societies that use these laws, their methods of legal enforcement and their different types of punishment, such as capital, corporal, and carceral. It will study the different types of legal tradition and analyse the issues they solve and create. It will use this information in order to learn not only more effective ways of enforcing laws, but also to identify the problems that may arise within a system due to its methods.
Learning Outcomes
1.
Demonstrate an advanced and theoretical understanding of the four major legal traditions
2.
Critically evaluate how different legal traditions work through each stage of the criminal justice process
3.
Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different systems of criminal justice
4.
Compare and contrast different approaches to, and understandings of, criminal justice in a globalised context, using theoretical ideas as a platform
Module Content
Outline Syllabus:An introduction to comparative criminal justice: crime across the countries
The historical-political approach to comparative criminal justice
The four major legal traditions: Common law; Civil law; Socialist law; and Sharia law
The Common Law model: courts, criminal procedure, policing, and punishment
The Civil Law model: courts, criminal procedure, policing, and punishment
The Socialist model: courts, criminal procedure, policing, and punishment
The Sharia model: courts, criminal procedure, policing, and punishment
Alternative models of criminal justice
Module Overview:
The overall aim of this module is to examine the practices, policies, and philosophies of criminal justice in different cultural and geographical contexts and provide an overview of different types of criminal justice systems around the globe. This module will therefore provide a critical understanding of the development of alternative justice processes across the globe.
The overall aim of this module is to examine the practices, policies, and philosophies of criminal justice in different cultural and geographical contexts and provide an overview of different types of criminal justice systems around the globe. This module will therefore provide a critical understanding of the development of alternative justice processes across the globe.
Additional Information:Comparative criminal justice is a subfield of the study of criminal justice that compares justice systems worldwide and examines how concepts of law and punishment vary from country to country. It studies the similarities and differences in structure and goals, as well as the history and political stature of different systems. Research on comparative criminal justice systems focuses on the various ways nation states attempt to maintain social order and accomplish justice, and examines the ways different countries and jurisdictions deal with the main stages and elements in the criminal justice process, from policing through to sentencing. This module will therefore provide students with a critical understanding of the development of alternative justice processes across the globe.