Historical Origins of Plea Bargaining at Common Law

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Plea bargaining is not known among the historians and even the scholars of the criminal law in Japan. This project aims to search historical origins of plea bargaining in England.Professor J. S. Cockburn found in Assize Records of the Home Circuit for the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I many facts suggesting plea bargaining, and he concluded that there was plea bargaining in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries England. But this opinion was criticized by A. W. Alschuler, who had insisted its origins in nineteenth century America.I have reviewed this controversy and examined the material by myself, and concluded with Professor Cockburn that there was plea bargaining in late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries England. The evidence of my theory is many altered indictments suggesting plea bargaining, suddenly increased number of arraignments, and also suddenly increased number of prisoners arraigned before each trial jury, and so on.I have also suggested that at least one reason of the early plea bargaining was the same with modern American one, that is, the large number of crimes out of proportion to the small number of judges and peace officers.