Concluding Comments

Centering on the criminal justice systems of England and Wales and France, this book has analyzed recent changes in criminal justice policy trends and process values as they have played out across the core functions of prosecution and defense, as well as how systems malfunction and seek to correct themselves in different ways. Both jurisdictions face common challenges, such as the changing terrorist threat, the constraints of public sector austerity, and the need to adapt to pan-European measures and standards of fair trial. The ways in which, through their criminal law and procedure, they resist, respond, or adapt to these challenges illuminate the legal and political values that motivate criminal justice in each jurisdiction. This in turn invites reflection on the nature and significance of the two contrasting procedural traditions within which they understand themselves to be located....