Inside Crown Court ― Personal Experiences and Questions of Legitimacy

Within the criminal justice systems of England and Wales, the Crown Court is the arena in which serious criminal offenses are prosecuted and sentenced. Based on up-to-date ethnographic research, including interviews and field observations, this timely book provides a vivid description of what it is like to attend court as a victim, a witness, or a defendant; the interplay between the different players in the courtroom; and the extent to which the court process is viewed as legitimate by those involved in it. While its research is focused on the Crown Court, the book’s findings are far from narrow. This valuable addition to the field brings to life the range of issues involved in jurisprudence and will be of great interest to students and scholars of criminal justice, policy makers and practitioners, and interested members of the general public the world over.

Jessica Jacobson is codirector of the Institute for Criminal Policy Research, Birkbeck, University of London, whereGillian Hunter is a senior research fellow and Amy Kirby is a research fellow.