The module aims to provide students with a critical insight into crime and criminal justice. The module will combine theoretical inquiry with the reality of the criminal justice process. It will critically evaluate the institutions, agencies and operation of the criminal justice process including the historical development of the criminal justice process; models of criminal justice; criminal justice values and policies; influence of European institutions on the criminal justice process; diversion of youth offenders from the criminal justice process and prosecutorial discretion; sentence management and the treatment of offenders; conditions of imprisonment; scrutiny of the prison system: judicial review, visiting committees, prisons and places of detention. The module is a study of major components of criminal justice, which include concepts of law and crime, the criminal justice process, and overview of criminal justice agencies, current criminal justice policy documents, interactions and conflicts between criminal justice agencies.

Historical introduction of crime and criminal justice: overview of the historical development of the common law adversarial trial; crime and the media: legislative responses to criminal justice 'in crisis.' Crime data and crime measurement; trends within criminal justice; risk and criminal justice. Making of criminal justice policy. Criminal justice legislation. Structure and function of the Criminal Courts of Justice; European Court of Human Rights. Investigation and trial of offences: adversarial trial process - roles of trial participants: trial judge; jury; prosecuting counsel; defence counsel; witnesses; defendant; victim. Theorising criminal justice: Herbert Packer: crime control; due process; Kent Roach: punitive model of victims' rights; non-punitive model of victims' rights. Accommodating victims of crime. Covert surveillance of suspects and electronic monitoring of offenders. Juvenile (youth) justice system. Influence of the European Convention on Human Rights on the criminal justice and sentencing process. Sex offenders and drugs offenders 'register'. Role of the national police service (An Garda Síochána) and other law enforcement/regulatory agencies. Prosecuting authorities: Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Restorative justice: an alternative mode of justice? Adoption of civil mechanisms in the criminal justice process including seizure of criminal assets and the proceeds of crime; anti-social behaviour orders (ASBO's). The criminal sanction and principles of sentencing. Prisons and places of detention. Probation and offender management. The shape of things to come: EU criminal justice and the global dimension of criminal justice policy.

Examine selected current issues in criminal justice Interpret the basic components of criminal justice processes Identify the major sources of crime data, and their uses and limitations Employ different theoretical approaches to criminal justice Outline and trace the development of victims rights Differentiate between the theoretical justifications for punishment

Understand the basic differences between juvenile and adult criminal justice processes Connect changing values of criminal justice, from due process to crime control Question the extent to which emerging EU and international forms of justice will influence criminal justice

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This module will be delivered via two-hour weekly seminars that involve instruction on the various topics to be studied, as well as active student discussion on each of these topics. Students are expected to read the essential reading materials and to participate in discussions, which include sharing thoughts, views, and opinions with other students. Recent developments in crime and the criminal justice process are incorporated into the module through the recommended reading. Students will become more knowledgeable by engaging with a new perspective on and understanding of crime and criminal justice. Student knowledge and understanding will also be advanced through a critical engagement with the crime control and due process models of criminal justice. Students will also become more articulate as they will be taught how to think critically about understanding crime in a more nuanced manner. This will allow students to experience the value of alternative approaches such as the seizure of criminal assets and related crime control measures including covert surveillance of suspects. Students will also become more adept at articulating and communicating their views on theoretical justifications for punishment and the criminal sanction within the classroom context and beyond in the professions. This proactivity will be encouraged and fostered within the discussion and instruction offered in the seminars and within the recommended reading for the module.