One Case - Two Systems: A Comparative View of American and German Criminal Justice Systems

Using California as the model for the adversarial system and Germany as the model for the inquisitorial system, this innovative work seeks to add a new dimension to the comparative study of criminal justice. The basic idea is contained in the title, One Case–Two Systems. Containing the first ever side-by-side portrayals of full American and German trials, the book views a single case through two separate lenses–one American, one German.

Returning home unexpectedly from a vacation in the country, an elderly man interrupts a night time burglary in his own house and is attacked as the burglar tries to escape. By portraying an ordinary crime–a burglary that turns into a robbery–rather than a dramatic, high-profile murder, the book provides a detailed, working picture of the two systems and the contrasts between them. Allowing the reader to observe and compare the formal steps that cases go through in the two systems, it brings the work of the police, the prosecution, the defense, and the courts to life - by giving thoughts and reasons as well as actions. Even the most critical documents are included.

Designed to illustrate the most important differences between the two systems, the country chapters first portray the California investigation and prosecution and then take the same case through the German system. Often seeing eye-to-eye but sometimes diverging sharply, the two sets of comments focus on the critical issues depicted in the country chapters–seeking to explain the similarities, differences, and peculiarities of the two systems.

Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.