The Prosecutor in Transnational Perspective

The American prosecutor plays a powerful role in the judicial system, wielding the authority to accept or decline a case, choose which crimes to allege, and decide the number of counts to charge. These choices, among others, are often made with little supervision or institutional oversight. This prosecutorial discretion has prompted scholars to look to the role of prosecutors in Europe for insight on how to reform the American system of justice. In The Prosecutor in Transnational Perspective, Erik Luna and Marianne Wade, through the works of their contributors coupled with their own analysis, demonstrate that valuable lessons can be learned from a transnational examination of prosecutorial authority. They examine both parallels and distinctions in the processes available to and decisions made by prosecutors in the United States and Europe. Ultimately, they demonstrate how the enhanced role of the prosecutor represents a crossroads for criminal justice with weighty legal and socio-economic consequences.

Table of Contents:
Preface Section I Section Introduction: The Prosecutor as Policymaker, Case-Manager, and Investigator Erik Luna and Marianne Wade Prosecution Guidelines in the United States Ellen S. Podgor Procedural Justice, Collateral Consequences and the Adjudication of Misdemeanors in the United States John D. King Is the Journey from the In-Box to the Out-Box a Straight Line? The Drive for Efficiency and the Prosecution of Low-Level Criminality in Germany Shawn Boyne The Interaction and Relationship Between Prosecutors and Police Officers in the United States, and How This Affects Police Reform Efforts David A. Harris Prosecutorial Control of Investigations in Europe: A Call for Judicial Oversight Stefan Braum Section II Section Introduction: Plea Bargaining and Other "Consensual Procedures" Erik Luna and Marianne Wade The Prosecutor's Role: Plea Bargaining and Evidentiary Exclusion Craig Bradley Prosecutors and Bargaining in Weak Cases: A Comparative View Jenia Iontcheva Turner Guilty Pleas and the Changing Role of the Prosecutor in French Criminal Justice Jacqueline Hodgson The Dutch Prosecutor: A Prosecuting and Sentencing Officer Peter J.P. Tak The Penal Order: Prosecutorial Sentencing as a Model for Comparative Criminal Justice Reform? Stephen C. Thaman Section III Section Introduction: Adversarial and Inquisitorial Systems - Distinctive Aspects and Convergent Trends Erik Luna and Marianne Wade A Perfect Storm: Prosecutorial Discretion in the United States William T. Pizzi American Prosecutors' Powers and Obligations in the Era of Plea Bargaining Darryl K. Brown The Evolving Role of the English Crown Prosecution Service Chris Lewis Prosecutorial Powers and Policymaking in Sweden and the Other Nordic Countries Josef Zila The Italian Public Prosecutor: An Inquisitorial Figure in Adversarial Proceedings? Michele Caianiello Obsolete Procedural Actors? Polish Prosecutors and Their Evidence Gathering Duty Before and During Trial in an Inquisitorial Environment Antoni Bojanczyk Section IV Section Introduction: Prosecution in Exceptional Contexts and Non-Domestic Fora Erik Luna and Marianne Wade Prosecuting Terrorism: Models for Confronting Organized Violence Wayne McCormack Prosecuting in the Military Timothy C. MacDonnell Obtaining Guilty Pleas for International Crimes: Prosecutorial Difficulties Nancy Amoury Combs Murder by Any Other Name: Genocide and the Prosecutorial Challenges John Winterdyk Section 5 Section Introduction: Overview and Outlook - Toward Comparative Prosecution Studies Erik Luna and Marianne Wade A Judge by Another Name? Comparative Perspectives on the Role of the Public Prosecutor Thomas Weigend Reporting for Duty: The Universal Prosecutorial Accountability Puzzle and an Experimental Transparency Alternative Marc L. Miller and Ronald F. Wright Failures of the Prosecutor's Duty to "Do Justice" in Extraordinary and Ordinary Miscarriages of Justice Robert P. Mosteller Looking Back and at the Challenges Ahead Erik Luna and Marianne Wade

About the Author :
Marianne Wade is Senior Lecturer at Birmingham Law School at the University of Birmingham. Dr. Wade was educated in Norway, the UK and Germany, and she has worked at the Department of Criminology of the University of Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law. Her activities currently focus on European criminal law and criminal justice, as well as prosecutors and terrorism. Erik Luna is Professor of Law and Law Alumni Faculty Fellow at Washington and Lee University. Luna was a prosecutor in the San Diego District Attorney's Office and has served as the senior Fulbright Scholar to New Zealand, where he taught at Victoria University Law School and conducted research on sentencing alternatives. He is currently an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation research scholar, an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute and a project co-director with the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law. Luna teaches and writes in the areas of criminal law and criminal procedure.