Description
Orient Publishing Company Law Relating to Plea Bargaining (International and National Scenario) by Dr. Suman Rai
The famous jurist Nani Palkhivala has said "the greatest drawback of the administration of justice in India today is because of delay of cases..................... The law may or may not be an ass, but in India, it is certainly a snail and our cases proceed at a pace which would be regarded as unduly slow in the community of snails. Justice has to be blind but I see no reason why it should be lame. Here it just hobbles along, barely able to work." The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2005 (which came into force with effect from 5.7.2006) has inserted Chapter XXI A in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, that for the first time accords recognition to the idea of plea bargaining within the Indian Criminal Justice System. For providing the working details of the plea-bargaining system, new Sections 265 A to 265 L have been introduced with a view to providing for the qualifications for plea bargaining, the stage and procedure for making an application, the role of court and the parties, the guidelines for mutually satisfactory disposition, the final disposition of the case by the court and its finality, the according of set-off benefit, the prohibition against use of plea-bargaining depositions in any other proceedings and non-applicability of plea-bargaining in juvenile justice proceedings, etc. Plea-bargaining proceeding is a new technique for simplifying the rigor of the formal system as well as a measure for the speedier disposal of cases. But this technique has immense significance from the point of view of the accused, who is accorded an option to bargain-plea within the existing system. Thus, the rules relating to plea-bargaining have special value not only for the accused, but also for those who are responsible for operating the system at the ground level.
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Table of Contents
Part-A The Plea Bargaining
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Plea-bargaining and it's History
3. Plea-bargaining: It's Function and Role.
. Plea-bargaining considerations
5. Views about Plea-bargaining
6. Role of the Prosecutor, Defence counsel and the Judge
7. Plea-bargaining in India
8. Plea-bargaining Procedure
9. Prevalant legal provisions in India
10. Guilty plea discount in United Kingdom and Australia
11. Plea-bargaining process in Canada
12. Brady v. Maryland in the plea-bargaining context
13. Federal Rules, Sentencing Guidelines and Policies
14. United States Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
15. Plea-bargaining under International Criminal Tribunal
16. Arguments for and against Nolo Contendere Pleas
17. Value of Plea-bargaining
18. Plea-bargaining Law after Lafler and Frye
19. Incompetent Plea-bargaining and Extra-Judicial Reforms
20. Lafler and Frye-A New Constitutional Standard for Negotiation
21. Repeat Offenders, Plea-bargaining, and Variable Standard of Proof
Part-B Steps towards Criminal Justice Reforms
1. Crime and Criminology
2. Vision for Criminal Justice Reforms
3. Concessional Treatment for Offenders
4. Views of Committees and Institutions on Criminal Justice Reforms
Part-C Appendices
Part-B Steps towards Criminal Justice Reforms
1. Crime and Criminology
2. Vision for Criminal Justice Reforms
3. Concessional Treatment for Offenders
4. Views of Committees and Institutions on Criminal Justice Reforms
Part-C Appendices
• Landmark Judgments of United States Supreme Court
• Model Forms for Plea-bargaining
• Laws where plea-bargaining is applicable
• Laws where plea-bargaining is not applicable
INDEX
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Author Details
Dr. Suman Rai, LL.M, D.Phil.