Cover -- Half-title -- Title page -- Copyright information -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Preface and Acknowledgements -- Table of Cases -- Table of Legislation -- List of Abbreviations -- 1 Introduction: The History of the Problem of 'Cracked Trials' -- Playing the System -- Enhancing Efficiency -- Sentence Discounts -- This Book -- Outline of the Chapters -- 2 The Sliding Scale of Sentence Discounts -- England and Wales -- Justifications of the Sliding Scale -- Hong Kong -- Australia -- Scotland -- New Zealand -- Conclusion
3 Implicit (and Explicit) Plea Bargaining -- Voluntariness of Guilty Pleas -- Advanced Sentence Indications -- Communicating the Sentence Discount -- Communications by Defence Lawyers -- Implicit Plea Bargaining -- Pressures to Plead Guilty -- Innocent Defendants Pleading Guilty -- Conclusion -- 4 Revisiting the Assumptions and Methodology -- Playing the System? -- Resolving 'Cracked Trials' -- Sliding Scale on Guilty Plea Rates -- Methodology and Data Collection -- Conclusion -- 5 Factors Affecting the Timing of Guilty Pleas -- Demographic Characteristics -- Confessions -- Legal Representation
Factors Affecting the Timing of Guilty Pleas: England and Wales -- Factors Affecting the Timing of Guilty Pleas: Hong Kong -- Young Adult Defendants -- Challenging a Confession -- Publicly Funded Lawyers -- Pretrial Detention -- Conclusion -- 6 Trial and Late-Plea Penalties -- Guilty Plea Discount or Trial Penalty? -- Existing Studies Measuring Trial Penalty -- Late-Plea Penalty: England and Wales -- Trial Penalty: Hong Kong -- Adverse Impacts -- Conclusion -- 7 Consistency in Applying Sentence Discounts -- Applying Sentencing Guidelines
Empirical Studies Measuring Consistency of Adhering to Sentencing Guidelines -- Guilty Plea Stage and Sentence Discount -- Factors Affecting Actual Sentence Discounts -- Sentencing Process -- Actual Sentence Discounts on Sentence Lengths -- Conclusion -- 8 Public Opinion and Sentence Discounts -- Public Influence on Sentencing -- Public Confidence in the Courts -- Public Attitudes towards Sentencing -- Public Attitudes towards Plea Bargaining -- Public Attitudes towards Sentence Discounts -- Conclusion -- 9 Conclusion -- Thinking About Efficiency More Holistically -- Informed Choice
Bringing Back the Adversarial Lawyer -- Further Research -- Concluding Remarks -- Index
Summary
A detailed study of the importance of the timing of guilty pleas and its effects across different legal jurisdictions
Notes
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on January 04, 2023)
