Criminal Justice in Provincial England, France and Netherlands, c. 1880-1905 : some Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

The article presents the findings of a comparative study of criminal justice in three provincial towns (Ipswich, Caen and Maastricht), c. 1880-1905. It identifies and analyses varying patterns in the judicial treatment of a selected number of medium-range crimes (common property crimes, minor violent crimes) and low-ranking offences (e. ., public drunkenness). The comparative perspective allows us to reveal perspectives that are usually under-exposed and gain a better insight into three wider questions : (i) the relationship between criminal justice and the development of the modern state ; (ii) the rationalisation of government and (iii) the cultural meaning of criminal justice. The purpose of the article is to suggest further lines of enquiry, especially in relation to the ideology of « British justice », the view of French criminal justice as controlled rather than controlling, the relationship between rationalisation and bureaucratisation in the sphere of criminal justice, and the symbolical role of criminal justice for the nation-state.