Attempts at trans-jurisdictional debate and agreement are often beset by mutual misunderstanding. Professionals and academics engaged in comparative criminal law sometimes use the same terms with different meanings or different terms which mean the same thing. Although English is the new lingua franca in international and comparative criminal law, there are many ambiguities and uncertainties with regard to foundational criminal law and criminal justice concepts. However, there exists greater similarities among diverse systems of criminal law and justice than is commonly realised. This book explores the foundational principles and concepts that underpin the different domestic systems. It focuses on the Germanic and several principal Anglo-American jurisdictions, which are employed as examples of the wider common law-civil law divide.

The trans-jurisdictional discourse on criminal justice is often hampered by mutual misunderstandings. The translation of legal concepts from English into other languages and vice versa is subject to ambiguity and potential error: the same term may assume different meanings in different legal contexts. More importantly, legal systems may choose differing theoretical or policy approaches to resolving the same issues, which sometimes - but not always - lead to similar outcomes. This book is the second volume of a series in which eminent scholars from German-speaking and Anglo-American jurisdictions work together on comparative essays that explore foundational concepts of criminal law and procedure. Each topic is illuminated from German and Anglo-American perspectives, and differences and similarities are analysed.