Course Description
Uses a comparative approach, drawing on the United States experience, to develop students’ understanding of the British criminal justice system.
Athena Title
Crim Justice U.S. and Britain
Non-Traditional Format
This course will be taught as a summer study abroad program (UGA Franklin – Univ of Liverpool). a. Classroom: 90 minutes of classroom instruction for Monday- Thursday for 3 weeks (1080 minutes); b. Excursions/field: three site visits (one 6-hour visit on Friday; three 3-hour visits on a weekday afternoon, for a total of 900 field minutes or 450 contact minutes); c. Lab: In the period prior to arriving in Liverpool, students and instructor will engage in online discussion; students will submit assignments (lab time for a total of 12 hours, 720 lab minutes/ 360 contact minutes). In the period after departing from Liverpool, students will have assignments that will require 12 hours, 720 lab minutes/ 360 contact minutes).
Prerequisite
POLS 1101 or POLS 1101E or POLS 1105H or SOCI 1101 or SOCI 1101H
Semester Course Offered
Offered summer semester every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course will provide students with an understanding of the criminal justice system using a comparative approach that considers the British and U.S. experience. The class will include a lecture and discussion component. Students will be expected to participate in discussions drawing on assigned readings and submit written assignments. Students will use excursions to the local court and police department as an active learning environment, visiting other sites as appropriate.
Topical Outline
1. Origins of the common law* (pre-trip readings and assignments) 2. The English and U.S. court systems: a historical overview* (pre-trip readings and assignments) 3. Overview of U.S., English, and Welsh criminal law and criminal courts* (pre-trip readings and assignments) 4. Legal profession 5. Police in England and Wales 6. Comparing U.S. and UK policing 7. Contemporary criminal courts and the judicial process 8. Appeals in the criminal justice system: due process in the U.S. and England 9. The international criminal justice System: the ICC and membership in the EU