ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the workings of the criminal justice system in England and Wales (see Chapter 19 for a discussion on the criminal justice system of Scotland) and critically analyses the philosophical basis on which the criminal justice system operates at a time when the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which followed the White Paper Justice for All, could transform the criminal justice landscape. In passing, it considers to what extent there is in fact a ‘system’ in the ‘criminal justice system’, if ‘justice’ is actually dispensed, or if there might be other ways to respond to the problem of crime.
