ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses a particular study of the way in which two jurisdictions – the Netherlands and England and Wales – have reacted to certain new developments in police investigative techniques, namely, the rise of covert and proactive policing. This study represents a comparative and collaborative (re)interpretation of trends suggested by the empirical work of indigenous researchers. Scholars in comparative law have been using the concept of 'legal cultures' as a means of thus contextualizing the analysis of comparative legal practices. The chapter explores certain specific elements of these legal cultures which relate to police accountability. In England and Wales the debates have led to two significant legislative developments: the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 and the Police Act 1997. The Police Act 1997 introduces, for the first time, a limited requirement of prior judicial authority for 'intrusive surveillance'.
