The Timing of Guilty Pleas - Softcover

Cheng

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1009158619 ISBN 13: 9781009158619

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2025

Synopsis

While guilty pleas are the primary mode of criminal case dispositions across different legal jurisdictions, this topic remains an understudied area. The assumption is that defendants are 'playing the system' and that a sliding scale of sentence discounts is necessary to encourage early guilty pleas, which offer utilitarian benefits of efficiency. These assumptions lack a solid empirical foundation. This book offers a comprehensive investigation of how the timing of guilty pleas affects various facets of the criminal process, from the factors that affect this timing, to the effects that the sliding scale of sentence discounts have on sentences and public opinions about them. It also draws comparisons between Western and Asian legal systems, specifically those of England and Wales and Hong Kong. This book is addressed to scholars, legal practitioners, policymakers and those interested in criminal justice, socio-legal studies and empirical legal research.

About this title

About the Author

Kevin Kwok-yin Cheng is Associate Professor and Assistant Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has published widely about guilty pleas, plea bargaining, procedural justice and sentencing. He is co-author of The Hong Kong Legal System (second edition) (Cambridge, 2020).

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009158619
• ISBN 13: 9781009158619
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 230