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Justice and punishment: Myths, mercy and Anglo-Saxon attitudes.

Cornwell, David J
June 4, 2015

Source: (2013) In, David J. Cornwell, John Blad, and Martin Wright, eds., Civilising criminal justice: An international restorative justice agenda for penal reform. pp. 49-80.

Within the scope of this chapter, an attempt will be made — however diffidently — to address a number of the threads of essential reasoning that emerge from the learned and challenging essay contributions within this volume. In its entirety, the work is rich in the collective wisdoms of the internationally diverse and widely respected group of participants. At its core, the book is concerned with making criminal justice systems more ‘civilised’ within the context of post-modern democratic societies: such is to suggest that these ‘systems’, if indeed they can be described as displaying coherent systemic characteristics, stand in evident need of a measure of philosophical renewal to make them ‘fit for purpose’ in meeting the needs of contemporary society. (excerpt)

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