Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T01:04:37.710Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Implicit (and Explicit) Plea Bargaining

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2022

Kevin Cheng
Kevin Cheng
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Get access

Summary

Chapters 1 and 2 looked at how the official discourse is based on tactical defendants ‘playing the system’ and the justification for sentence discounts corresponding to the timing of guilty pleas is utilitarian benefits to the criminal justice system. This chapter offers an alternative perspective. First it argues that sentence discount for guilty pleas is a form of implicit plea bargaining despite the avoidance to officially recognise the practice of plea bargaining in different jurisdictions. Moreover, operating in tandem with advanced sentence indications and other stages of the criminal process, sentence discounts for guilty pleas arguably serve as pressure for defendants to plead guilty.

Keywords

plea bargainingplea negotiationsadvanced sentence indicationspretrial costssentence discountdefence lawyers
Type
Chapter
Information
The Timing of Guilty Pleas
Lessons from Common Law Jurisdictions
 , pp. 47 - 68
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×