ABSTRACT
Everywhere one looks in Europe, the rhetoric of government is that there is “equality before the law.” Research tends to show otherwise but public opinion does not seem to be particularly affected by this fact. Apparently, nothing or very little has been done in the realm of justice to dismiss Saint Matthew’s famous statement: “to them that hath shall be given: from them that hath not will be taken away” (Matthew 12.13). The rhetoric also speaks of equality of treatment of the population by the criminal system itself, but countless studies provide evidence that police abuse of their powers is most common in respect of “the most marginalized groups (unemployed, the poor and the immigrants) who suffer most from whatever abuse of power takes place” (Sanders and Young 1994:304). Needless to say, the voices of these people are not counted as critical public opinion. Conversely, the evils of justice cover the front page of the daily press when victims of presumed abuse are powerful and/or popular persons. As to criminal policies, governments, by and large, are overwhelmingly interested in adopting measures which improve the efficiency of the legal system, rather than strategies oriented toward a reduction of injustice. Moreover, the invoked “better efficiency” is more often than not just a cover for repressive policies (Christie 1993; Chambliss 1995).
