CBMH 8(1)2ND/JH 15/12/05 9:48 am Page 73
Book reviews 73
tops the league in Western Europe, is shown to be partly a consequence of rate
of detention (higher in the UK), rate of imprisonment (less than Norway, for
instance) and the duration of imprisonment. There is an interesting discussion
on the impending challenges of prison privatization (pp. 233–239) which
would have benefited further from comparison with health care reform in
recent years. Many of the proposed changes in ‘penal managerism’ appear to
repeat those that have been implemented and widely debated in British
health care, such as the purchaser–provider split.
The chapter on British youth justice also provides a comprehensive and
up-to-date outline. It distinguishes itself from the other chapters in its men-
tion (albeit in a brief paragraph on p. 273) of the increasingly recognized role
of drugs and alcohol in criminal behaviour. An important omission in the sec-
tion on ‘Offender-centered strategies’ (pp. 287–88) in the chapter on
‘Community and crime prevention’ is the relationship between substance
abuse and crime. There is no mention of the role of community mental health
teams which should be part of the ‘Community-centered strategies’ to prevent
crime. This reflects a weakness in the whole book, which fails to incorporate
basic findings of mental health research into its presentation of the different
perspectives on criminology.
A second concern relates to the period of years considered in the book.
The first chapter on the development of the police service focuses on the 19th
century, while the second examines modern policing on the 1980s. The chap-
ter on prison history predominantly explores changes in the early 1900s, while
the one on the criminal justice system discusses the developments in Britain
since the Conservative Government of 1979. Thus, while the seven chapters
may approach internal consistency, the possibility of reading across them is
interrupted. This is partly counteracted by the theoretical thread on sex and
race issues that runs through the chapters, with a particularly balanced discus-
sion in Chapter 3, ‘Critical decisions and processes in the criminal courts’.
Future work would benefit from including the vantage point of mental health.
Seena Fazel
Wellcome Research Fellow
Warneford Hospital, Oxford
TEXT AND MATERIALS ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS
By Nicola M. Padfield. Butterworths Law Publishers, 35 Chancery Lane,
London WC2A 1EL, June 1995, 409 pp. Paperback £24.95, ISBN 0-406-
05243-3.
I have to admit that when I first looked at this book I was prepared to find it
hard going. I thought it might be informative by bringing me up to date on
CBMH 8(1)2ND/JH 15/12/05 9:48 am Page 74
74 Book reviews
some of the recent changes in the British criminal justice process, also that it
could be useful as a reference on various aspects of what we call the criminal
justice ‘system’ – but enjoyment was not part of my expectation.
To my surprise I found it useful in all the above respects but, unlike many
books on criminal justice, I also found it eminently readable. Acknowledging
that students (to whom the book is primarily addressed), with their lack of
real-life experience and without access to a wealth of material, are unlikely to
understand or make judgements on a vast, constantly shifting scenario, Ms
Padfield breathes life into the subject by taking a novel approach. Early in the
book she introduces a violent crime – a stabbing – and a victim (Rosa
Bottles – a heavy drinker would you believe!) and a suspect, Gerry Good (is
this a surreptitious introduction of ‘character’ evidence?!).
Ms Padfield takes her players through the whole process, charging, appear-
ance, remand, to the final court decision, embracing as she goes chapters on
the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, magistrates, lawyers, judges, juries,
and with concluding chapters on appellate processes and sentence manage-
ment. A veritable pot-pourri of relevant information skilfully and comprehen-
sively put together which at each stage looks at the decision-making process:
who makes them, the basis on which they are made and the implications for
those concerned – particularly the accused.
The material to illustrate the inevitable twists and turns and the alterna-
tive paths which could be taken through the lengthy and important process
has been well chosen. Both in the narrative and supporting material she cov-
ers such subjects as police accountability, access to legal advice, detention of
mentally disordered offenders and the powers of the mental health review
tribunals – together with discussions on the roles of the Home Secretary and
the other players in the process.
The debates on the adversarial versus inquisitorial system and on a sus-
pect’s right to silence are usefully regurgitated, with extracts from the Report
of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. Home Office circulars, stated
cases and academic papers are among the material included to help the read-
er’s recall of all these various matters.
Although directed primarily at students I would recommend this book to
all who have an involvement in the criminal justice process. They (or we)
may wince at the occasional references the author makes to past mistakes and
continuing inadequacies but only by considering such views will we be able to
make the process a trifle more credible. A great strength of the book is the
author’s ability to cover, in depth, a wealth of material on such a complex sub-
ject. One may not agree with all her views, often tucked away in the questions
she poses, but it is a stimulating and highly readable book.
Sir Peter Imbert QPM DL
London, UK
