Practical Global Criminal Procedure

Book excerpt: Practical Global Criminal Procedure contextualizes criminal procedural law by analyzing police investigation in a homicide case under the law of the United States, Argentina, and the Netherlands. The book discusses the fictional case of Nico Jansen, an 18-year-old high school student who, after a series of events, is charged with murder. The initial police investigation of Nico and his co-defendant becomes the vehicle for an in-depth examination of seizures, searches, interrogations, identifications, and remedies for procedural violations under the law of each country. This book is designed as a student reader, and it can be used to provide a comparative experience to students in a basic criminal procedure course, to supplement a comparative law survey course, or to serve as primary text in a comparative criminal procedure course. The initial chapters provide a basic overview of life, crime, the legal system, and the criminal system in each country, and sets forth the facts of Nico''s case. The remaining chapters discuss the relevant criminal procedural law in each country and apply that law to the specific circumstances of Nico''s case. Comparison charts appear at the end of each substantive chapter to highlight and summarize the similarities and differences between each country''s laws. This book is part of the Contextual Approach Series, edited by Andrew J. McClurg, Professor and Herff Chair of Excellence in Law, The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. "This is comparative law as we dreamed it could be. The authors meticulously take us through the ins and outs of criminal procedure in three different countries. They provide the detail and continuity largely missing from individual works of comparative law, consisting only of disconnected snapshots of a foreign legal regime. From the comprehensive perspective of this work, and the clear collaboration among all three authors, the reader is offered a coherent comparative account of the detailed workings of the criminal justice systems in the U.S., Argentina, and the Netherlands." --Jorge Esquirol, Professor of Law, Florida International University College of Law "Because it uses a single hypothetical case as a springboard, this casebook allows students to compare in a rich factual context the nuances of the law regulating searches and seizures, interrogation, and identification in the United States, Argentina and the Netherlands. The three authors, each experts about their own countries, provide a compact, yet informed and comprehensive account of the fundamental differences between the investigative phases of these three archetypical criminal justice systems." --Christopher Slobogin, Milton Underwood Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School "This book is an extremely useful introduction to comparative criminal procedure. It takes a rather complicated murder case and shows readers how the case with its pretrial issues including search issues, issues surrounding the questioning of suspects, and identification issues would be resolved under the law in three very different legal systems. It will prove an excellent teaching tool for law students in comparative law courses, but because it is such a readable book, it will also serve as an excellent resource for anyone interested in understanding different legal cultures." --William Pizzi, Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado Law School "Practical Global Criminal Procedure is a great resource and teaching tool. It offers readers the opportunity to challenge unknowing assumptions they have about criminal investigation and prosecution in different legal systems. The comparison between U.S., Argentine, and Netherlands law permits the authors to offer insight into contrasting perspectives on criminal law and criminal investigation: common law versus civil law frameworks, adversarial versus inquisitive processes, the judge as a neutral party versus the judge as a director of the case, and all points in between. The comparison also allows the reader to consider, in the case of The Netherlands, the overlay of a strong regional international human rights tradition. All of this is accomplished by following a single factual scenario through investigation, arrest, and trial. The reader is left with a deeper understanding of the law in these three jurisdictions, as well as an appreciation of not only how to undertake a comparative analysis of the law, but why more of us should do so." --Marcella David, Professor of Law & International Studies, Associate Dean for International & Comparative Law, University of Iowa College of Law