This book describes the results of a six-nation study of how criminal justice agencies in England and Wales, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden have reacted to high crime rates and punitiveness. The book details how various solutions have been adopted, involving diversion of cases from courts, increases in financial penalties imposed by police or prosecutors without full court hearings and the introduction in some countries of "administrative offences".

Varying Structures and Convergent Trends in Prosecution within Europe.- The Function of Public Prosecution within the Criminal Justice System.- The Power to Decide Prosecutorial Control, Diversion and Punishment in European Criminal Justice Systems Today.- Dealing with Various Offence Types in Different Criminal Justice Systems Case Examples.- The Prosecution Service Function within the Criminal Justice System.- The Prosecution Service Function within the English Criminal Justice System.- The Prosecution Service Function within the French Criminal Justice System.- The Prosecution Service Function within the German Criminal Justice System.- The Prosecution Service Function within the Dutch Criminal Justice System.- The Prosecution Service Function within the Polish Criminal Justice System.- The Prosecution Service Function within the Swedish Criminal Justice System.