ABSTRACT
Actuarial justice is a coherent discourse regarding the prediction of crime and/or individual risk assessments. Calculations of probability are being used as tools for decision making in criminal policy and judging. The term was first coined by Malcolm Feeley and Jonathan Simon when they used it to provide a new framework as an alternative to the ‘hyper-moralistic, retributive discourse about penal policy’ (Feeley and Simon1994). 1 In this chapter I want to discuss some consequences for the legal system assuming that, one day or another, predictive instruments will be available regarding criminal behaviour that have a fair degree of reliability and validity.
