For the Public Utility: the Ideological and Conceptual Foundations of the British Police

The author addresses the problem of power relations in the era of criminal justice reform, presented in historical narratives, taking into account the socio-cultural context and realities of Great Britain in the 18th century. In the 18th century, the British system of crime control consisted of a large number of actors financed extremely unevenly from private and public sources. This fact, coupled with the British society critical attitude regarding the use of militarized forces to maintain civil law and order, reduced the effectiveness of law enforcement mechanisms and led to an unprecedented increase in crime, being a popular area of public discourse.

The subject of analysis is Henry Fielding’s little known treatise “An Enquiry into the causes of the late increase of robberies.” (1751), written by an outstanding playwright and novelist when he served as justice of the peace of Westminster and Middlesex districts. The uniqueness of H. Fielding’s position is that his rich experience in the field of political journalism and jurisprudence allowed him not only to fight London crime but to develop the ideological and conceptual foundations of British law enforcement practice.

The treatise contained not only a criticism of the modern criminal law mechanisms and the judicial system (prosecution at the expense of the injured party, arbitrariness of sentences, practice of royal pardon) but also conceptual and theoretical provisions substantiating the need and setting directions for the future radical reform of criminal justice. Remaining on the ideological platform of neo-republicanism, H. Fielding believed that it was the state who had to guarantee civil law and order. He also argued the necessity of a state official structure with a monopoly to implement crime control functions.

Keywords

H. Fielding, Great Britain, 18th century, crime, liberty, security, neo-republicanism

Received

10.02.2021

Publication date

01.05.2021

Number of characters

43665

Cite

GOST	Erlikhson I. “For the Public Utility”: the Ideological and Conceptual Foundations of the British Police // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2021. – Issue 3 C. 34-48 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640009738-9-1 (circulation date: 27.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640009738-9
MLA	Erlikhson, Irina "“For the Public Utility”: the Ideological and Conceptual Foundations of the British Police." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 3 (2021):34-48. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640009738-9
APA	Erlikhson I. (2021). “For the Public Utility”: the Ideological and Conceptual Foundations of the British Police. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (3), pp.34-48 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640009738-9

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