Politics and public servants: Observations on the current state of criminal law reform.

CRIMINAL law; CRIMINAL justice system; CRIME; CRIMINOLOGY; SOCIAL problems

In the debate over how to respond to crime and criminal justice problems, positions have often been framed along a political versus ethical or principled continuum. In this article, the author argues that this framework does not adequately capture the complexity of the current debate. The author suggests several reasons why this is so, and how the political, public, and public service environments have changed in unique ways. Selected key current issues are reviewed against those environmental factors, and steps leading out of this discouraging state are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dans le débat au sujet de la réponse à donner à la criminalité et aux problèmes de la justice pénale, les participants au débat se situent souvent soit du côté politique, soit du côté des principes ou de l'éthique. Dans ce texte, l'auteure démontre que ce cadre ne montre pas très bien la complexité du débat. Elle propose plusieurs autres explications et montrent que les milieux politiques, la société et les services publics ont tous changés d'une façon très singulière. Elle examine certaines questions actuelles en rapport avec ces facteurs environnementaux et propose des pistes pour sortir de l'impasse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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