This module provides a broad introduction to debates on Criminal Justice, Race and Rights and is designed for students who are interested in theories of race, crime, rights and the Criminal Justice system in the UK and other jurisdictions, including the US and Germany. It is set out to give a deep understanding of the theories and rationales underlying race, crime and the criminal justice and to help students critically reflect the system and criminal law practice. It engages with some of the most important issues in the UK, such as the discretionary police power, stop and search, police questioning, the under-funded and variable quality of criminal defence, the value and limitations of human rights, miscarriages of justice and its impact on racialised communities in Britain. It begins with a socio-legal approach to the subject grounding theories of crime and race within a broader socio-political analyses and context.
Criminal Justice, Race and Rights is a broad-based field of study and the course therefore adopts a theoretical, substantive and case-study approach while adopting critical, feminist and social legal approaches to understand contemporary race, crime and criminal justice issues.
