The widespread use of plea bargaining in the American justice system is a topic that has drawn criticism; cross-cultural comparisons addressing this issue have been rare. This article looks at the criminal court processes in three countries-the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark-to determine the extent to which plea bargaining, in one form or another, takes place in these three different legal systems. Qualitative fieldwork conducted with courtroom personnel and quantitative analysis of actual criminal cases are combined in this research. The author concludes that the practice of plea bargaining is a universal concept in these three countries.
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