A comparative analysis of criminal procedure in seventeenth-century France and Puritan Massachusetts

268 leaves ; 28 cm.Chapter I is a discussion aimed at providing the reader with a basic understanding of the complex system of social classification that was in a place in ancien regime France for centuries. Chapter II outlines the development of a royal system of justice prior to our period and the royal courts, whose form and hierarchy were the result of years of reform. These chapters represent the judical and social extremes that procedure linked. Chapter III is a thorough and complete discussion of the entire possible process in France during our period. This chapter clearly outlines the order of phases that the French courts followed in a typical prosecution and takes into account that these procedures were the result of years of practice and experience. These three chapters are tied together with a review of the major concepts up to that point and presents a transition from France to a series of chapters devoted to understanding the situation in Massachusetts Bay Colongy. Chapter V offers chronological approach to the development of both laws and courts in the colony. Chapter VI consists of discussion of the procedures used in the colonial courts, and attempts to identify the major English and Puritan influences within the colonial process as they arise. Again, these three chapters are tied together with a review of the major conclusions to be derived from the chapters on Massachusetts. This study concludes with Chapter VII, which offers the reader the comparative analysis of the two systems of procedure. This comparative chapter is structured to reflect the three basic functions we ascribed to criminal procedure at the outset of this discussion