‘The Governance of Crime and Negotiation of Justice’

Those interested in Irish criminological analysis might be interested in the recently published article, ‘The Governance of Crime and Negotiation of Justice’, in Criminology and Criminal Justice 2010 10 (1), written by myself and Shane Kilcommins. It takes issue with advocates of the ‘punitiveness’ thesis by arguing that their view is too ’state-centric’ and overlooks forces above and below the state that contest authoritarian rule and impel justice towards a negotiated model. Obstacles to punitiveness include the growing competence of the EU in criminal matters and the increasing reach of victims’ groups. The influence of both these developments on Irish criminal justice is elaborated in the article and the net result is to broaden the ‘law-and-order’ agenda beyond its usual concerns. The article concludes that these developments may reflect a more complex form of democracy whereby ‘counter-democratic’ forces challenge the powers of elected governments and justice emerges from a continuous cycle of negotiations. The article is available athttp://crj.sagepub.com/current.dtl
(subscription required).

Barry Vaughan

Contact: barry.vaughan@nesc.ie