Subjects:

Criminal Law

Contents:

The concept of diversion. Historical development and antecedents. Victim waiver. Waiver by enforcement agencies. The role of unofficial and non-state agencies. Diversion from formal prosecution. Diversion from trial. International perspectives. Diversion and penal theory.

Diversion in the Criminal Process is the first work to analyse systematically the exceptions to the formal criminal law processes, generically known as 'diversion'. The concept of diversion is explained and its development and its increasing role in the criminal process is examined. The authors seek to place the concept of diversion into a broader perspective which acknowledges that the formal criminal process is itself a kind of diversion, within which there exist a range of motives, for not resorting to the formal methods of prosecution, trial and punishment.