Etats, justice pénale et histoire : bilan et perspectives

Abstract

States, Criminal Justice and History : a review and some Perspectives. In the past 30 years, research on the State has followed various paraïlel paths. Beside Works of legal sociology, philos ophy and anthropology, a history of crime and criminal justice and a history of State formation have developped separately. This article attempts to assess the state of knowledge within these latter perspectives. In the course of the development of crime and criminal justice history the interest of historians has shifted from criminal behaviour to judicial institutions, and more recently to their political dimension. On the other hand, social historians interested in the formation of modem States have neglected the role played by criminal justice in the process of State modernisation. Built on this dual approach (crime and criminal justice and history of State), the paper proposes a reading of the development of criminal justice and state power in Western Europe from the Middle-Age to the 20th Century. From this perspective there has been a progressive transition from a local judicial system controlled by citizens to one controlled by the prince, as an instrument of monarchie sovereignity, and then to a bureaucratie State judicial system. This transition has taken various forms depending on the type of political and territorial structure involved. Criminal justice is thus seen as a crucial aspect of modem State formation.