Criminal defence at the police station: a comparative and empirical study

This book therefore provides a comprehensive – legal, empirical and contextual – analysis of criminal defence at the investigative stage from a comparative perspective. It is the first socio-legal and comparative study of criminal defence lawyering, which draws upon original empirical material from more than one jurisdiction (namely: England and Wales and the Netherlands).

Based on more than 60 interviews with lawyers and police officers, and about 60 weeks observation, the book contrasts the encountered reality of criminal defence at the investigative stage with the European normative ideal. It traces the reasons for the mismatch between the ideal and reality to the influence of the two major procedural traditions (inquisitorial versus adversarial), managerialist criminal justice policies and the  lawyers’ occupational cultures. [Title of the book] challenges the assumption of the determinative role of procedural traditions in shaping criminal defence practice. The book will be of interest for criminal law and justice practitioners, as well as for academics focusing on criminal justice, criminology, socio-legal studies, legal psychology and human rights.