COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS

The genesis and impetus for the works presented in this special edition of the Journal of International and Comparative Law derive from a central ambition to invite leading academicians to consider optimal reform conceptualisations within the criminal justice system, guided by comparative analyses and internationalised perspectives. The aim extends to initiatives advanced by Northumbria University’s Centre for Evidence and Criminal Justice Studies. While the works themselves stand as contributions of the individual scholars, they have been infl uenced by the overarching theme of international and comparative criminal justice and evidence scholarship. This special edition is divided into two parts. The fi rst half of the collection explores contemporary issues in substantive criminal law and sentencing. The second half of the collection assesses evidential issues affecting the operation of the law.

The collection commences with a contribution from Barry Mitchell. Barry in “Fundamental Issues in Homicide” notes that there are good reasons why we should be less than happy with both the substantive law and the sentencing of murder. The Law Commission’s recommendations for restructuring the substantive law in 2006 have largely fallen on deaf ears and the defi ciencies they identifi ed remain unaddressed. Serious concerns have also been raised about the sentencing law. One of the main assumptions behind the mandatory life sentence — that it was supported by the overwhelming majority of the public — has been doubted following careful survey research, and Sch.21 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (to which judges must have regard when determining the minimum term) has been heavily criticised. Through an analysis of the principal shortcomings of the status quo in England and Wales, this article suggests how the criminal justice system should deal with the more serious cases of unlawful homicide by revisiting both the defi nition of murder and the punishment of convicted offenders.