Exercising Discretion : Decision-Making in the Criminal Justice System and Beyond

241 Pages·2003·1.373 MB·English

by  Loraine Gelsthorpe, Nicola Padfield

Contents
Exercising Discretion

i
Policing, Ethics and Human Rights

ii
Contents
Exercising Discretion
Decision-making in the criminal
justice system and beyond
Edited by
Loraine Gelsthorpe
Nicola Padfield

iii
Policing, Ethics and Human Rights
Willan Publishing
Culmcott House
Mill Street, Uffculme
Cullompton, Devon
EX15 3AT, UK
Tel: [phone]
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e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.willanpublishing.co.uk
Published simultaneously in the USA and Canada by
Willan Publishing
c/o ISBS, 5824 N.E. Hassalo St,
Portland, Oregon 97213-3644, USA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
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© the Editors and the contributors 2003
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the
Publishers or a licence permitting copying in the UK issued by the Copyright Licensing
Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE.
First published 2003
ISBN 1-903240-99-9
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Printed and bound by T.J. International, Padstow, Cornwall
Project management by Deer Park Productions
Typeset by GCS, Leighton Buzzard, Beds.
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Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Notes on contributors ix
1 Introduction 1
Loraine Gelsthorpe and Nicola Padfield
2 Youth justice: discretion in pre-court decision-making 29
Vicky Kemp and Loraine Gelsthorpe
3 Judicial discretion in sentencing 50
David Thomas

4 Prison officers and the use of discretion 74
Alison Liebling and David Price
5 Discretion and the release of life sentence prisoners 97
Nicola Padfield and Alison Liebling, with Helen Arnold
6 Discretion in access to forensic psychiatric units 125
Adrian Grounds, Marie Howes and Loraine Gelsthorpe
7 Discretion and the release of mentally disordered offenders 139
Katy Holloway and Adrian Grounds
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Exercising Discretion
8 Decisions to detain asylum seekers – routine,
duty or individual choice? 164
Leanne Weber
9 Order, rationality and silence: some reflections on
criminal justice decision-making 186
Keith Hawkins
Index 220

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Chapter title
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to the contributors for their patience given this
book’s long period of gestation (the book has its origins in two day-
long highly stimulating and enjoyable seminars devoted to discretion
in 2000–2001), and to Keith Hawkins for his serious commitment to
the project. We would also like to thank Joanne Garner of the
Institute of Criminology for her excellent skills in putting together
the final manuscript in preparation for publication. Finally, we would
like to thank Brian Willan for his interest and support.

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Exercising Discretion

viii
Notes on contributors
Notes on contributors
Loraine Gelsthorpe is University Senior Lecturer in Criminology and a
Fellow of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. She has carried
out a number of research studies since the mid 1980s, including work on
police decision-making with regard to juvenile offenders; the operation
of multi-agency crime prevention and juvenile panels; the role of the
Crown Prosecution Service in juvenile justice, and gender issues in
juvenile justice. She has also conducted work on the sentencing of
women. Current research interests revolve around links between social
and criminal justice (including race and gender issues), community
penalties, and youth justice issues. She is currently completing a book
on social exclusion, crime and justice. Her publications include Sexism
and the Female Offender (1989), Feminist Perspectives in Criminology (1990
with A. Morris), Minority Ethnic Groups in the Criminal Justice System

(1993), Understanding the Sentencing of Women (1997 with C.
Hedderman) and Community Penalties: Change and Challenges (2001
with A.E. Bottoms and S. Rex). She chairs the Professional Affairs and
Ethics Committee of the British Society of Criminology. She also sits
on a number of editorial boards, including the Howard Journal, Women
and Criminal Justice, and Criminal Justice – The International Journal, of
Policy and Practice.
Adrian Grounds is University Senior Lecturer in forensic psychiatry at
the Institute of Criminology, and honorary consultant forensic
psychiatrist at Addenbrooke’s NHS Trust. His research interests include
the needs of mentally disordered prisoners, and secure psychiatric
services. He is co-editor of The Mentally Disordered Offender in an Era of
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