A Chair of Criminology at the French National Council of Universities. Great!… no, wait!
On the 13th of February, French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, officially raised criminology to the status of an independent discipline in French universities. This could be an occasion to celebrate: criminology has long been a sub-discipline, of penal law, psychology and the scientific aspects of forensic evidences. This move will result in dedicated degrees for students who previously had to study abroad to achieve their training. They will be able to receive a complete curriculum in France, from the bachelor’s degree to post-doctoral studies. Dedicated journals,…
The Limits of Compliance Statistics: What We Can and Cannot Learn
The Sentencing Council has recently released a report detailing experimental statistics on sentences handed down by the Crown courts in Britain. [1] These statistics tell us the number of sentences that fall within the recommended sentence ranges set out by the sentencing guidelines. But do they tell us anything more? This article will highlight some of the difficulties with compliance statistics in the English context and make some initial suggestions for further research and analysis of the survey information. The Guidelines System in England and…
