The Culture-Responsibility Relationship in the Criminal Law of England and Wales

Abstract

This thesis seeks to answer the question how should the criminal law of England and Wales respond to the relationship between culture and legal responsibility? It undertakes a socio-legal and interdisciplinary analysis of the relationship between culture and legal responsibility within the parameters of (i) the foundations, practice and policy of the criminal law of and criminal justice system in England and Wales; and (ii) understandings of multiculturalism as social reality, policy and philosophy within the socio-political system of the United Kingdom in the twenty first century. The analysis therefore draws on theory, practice and policy to develop a renewed and specifically nuanced ‘culture-responsibility relationship’, distinguishable from the ‘cultural defence’, and its importance for contemporary justice is established. Evidence is presented to confirm that the criminal law and criminal justice system of England and Wales manifest an absence of consistent and coherent engagement with culture and with the culture-responsibility relationship. Multicultural policy in turn manifests an absence of engagement with the criminal law. These omissions need to be addressed. A practical and policy-facing framework for the place of the culture-responsibility relationship in the criminal law and criminal justice system of England and Wales is therefore suggested. This reflects the current limits of the law and is intended as a starting point for ongoing dialogue.