Book Review

Abstract

Introduction The rise of managerialist values and the ‘efficiency drive’ within the criminal justice system has been well-documented in the English and Welsh context (McEwan, 2011). Much of the literature has focused on the implications of this managerial drive on traditional criminal justice principles (Roberts, 2022), as well as the impact of increasingly managerialist environments on various legal actors within the justice process (Thomason 2021; Derbyshire, 2014). Given the pace of change and the increasing endorsement of managerial values in justice systems around the world, important questions still remain as to the impacts of managerialism in the criminal justice context. How does managerialism, in its many and various guises, impact traditional criminal justice values in different jurisdictions? How does managerialism impact the different stages of the justice process? What are the impacts of managerialism in the inquisitorial and adversarial contexts respectively? This book seeks to answer those questions, and goes some distance in providing answers on the manifestations and impacts of the ‘managerialist creep’ that is of concern not only in England and Wales but in justice systems around the world. This edited collection brings together a range of contributions that consider these complex questions and, crucially, through a global lens. The book comprises seven chapters focusing on the impacts of bureaucratisation and efficiency drives in criminal justice, with each chapter offering a perspective from a different jurisdiction. The first four chapters examine the effects of managerialism in the pre-trial stages of the justice process, by evaluating the changing role of public prosecutors in France, the Netherlands, Greece and China. The remaining chapters then consider the impacts of managerialism on specific actors within the justice system. Chapter 5 explores how judges have responded to an increasing environment of managerialism, Chapter 6 considers the impact on defence lawyers, and Chapter 7 on victim support agencies. The chapters are expertly woven together, and are presented in a logical order that reflects the sequential stages of the justice process. This book will be of particular interest to those working and studying in the area of criminal justice and procedure, and the quality of the text is such that it will be illuminating and of interest to those with either a comparative or a domestic focus. This review sets out chapter-by-chapter analysis before offering some final reflections, critique and praise for the editors.