Aims

The aim of the course is to provide the student access to the results of criminological research into the organization and operation of the system that administers Criminal Justice and to thus provide him with contemporary forms of theoretical constructon on this subject, which brings together primary criminalization and secondary criminalization. In a way,this course is the sociological counterpart of the student's training in criminal law and criminal procedure.

Main themes

The course covers the sociological study of the operation of the criminal law system, from the inception of criminal law until the execution of the decisions of the framers of secondary criminalization. On the one hand, the student is initiated into the systematic, theoretical formalization of the subject (disclosing how the path mentioned is not a straight one); on the other hand, the formalization of criminal action is validated, describing how it is produced by the social forces. Two models for the analysis of the administration of criminal justice are thus brought into play.

The theoretical study at issue is based on a dual entryway: 1) a course of study covering the subsystems of the establishment of the law, of the police, of prosecution and sentencing policy, of the policy governing the execution of criminal sentences, and the social movements which are involved in the management of these subsystems; 2) a course of study covering the application across different subsystems of certain problems or litigation which infuse the entire criminal justice administration.l

Content and teaching methods

The course is given by lecture and is based on Belgian and foreign research.

Other credits in programs