Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2006
Abstract
This article addresses why a comparative perspective should be brought into a basic bar course like criminal procedure. American courts and students should be aware of how other countries process their criminal cases to determine whether we can learn from them. It discusses archetypes of criminal procedure as teaching tools, applications of comparative models in the post-investigative stage of criminal procedure, the right to an oral immediate trial and the right to confront witnesses, and the division of labor between lay and professional judges in deciding facts, guilt, and sentencing. By immersing oneself in comparative law and the history of criminal procedure, one gains innumerable insights that help in understanding the advantages and the shortcomings of the American system of law, which is the focus of most American teaching.
Recommended Citation
Thaman, Stephen C., A Comparative Approach to Teaching Criminal Procedure and its Application to the Post-Investigative Stage (2006). Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 56, no. 3, p. 459-476, 2006.