Introduction: Re-Examining Criminal Process Through the Lens of Integrity

Abstract

This is the Introduction to Hunter, Roberts, Young and Dixon (ed), The Integrity of Criminal Process: From Theory into Practice (Hart, 2016). It sketches a theoretical framework for reconsidering familiar topics and issues 'through the lens of integrity', and identifies key themes unifying the volume's sixteen chapters, written by leading scholars from Australia, Hong Kong, UK, and USA. Reflecting the flexibility and scope of a putative ‘integrity principle’, these new essays range widely over many of the most hotly contested issues in contemporary criminal justice theory, policy and practice, including: the ethics of police investigations, charging practice and discretionary enforcement; prosecutorial independence, policy and operational decision-making; plea bargaining; the perils of witness coaching and accomplice testimony; expert evidence; doctrines of admissibility and abuse of process; lay participation in criminal adjudication; the role of remorse in sentencing; the ethics of appellate judgment writing; innocence projects; and state compensation for miscarriages of justice.