ABSTRACT
This book arose out of the realisation that there were a number of people working at the Institute of Criminology in the University of Cambridge who, quite separately, were exploring the concept of discretion. Our different studies, involving discretion and decision-makers in different corners of the criminal justice and penal systems and beyond into the mental health world, and immigration and asylum, have led us to pose some fundamental questions:
How can we define discretion?
How can we evaluate discretion?
How is discretion exercised in different decision-making arenas? And what are the constraints that shape the power to exercise it?
Is the exercise of discretion legitimate?
