Sin and Status: A Tale of Anglo-American Criminal Justice

In the early hours of the morning, a prostitute, under police surveillance, performs a quick 'trick' with a well-known actor in a parked car - and is arrested. A company director conceals the true nancial position of a company and sells shares in advance of the release of damaging information, while advising others to retain theirs. The company fails, destroying pension entitlements, investments and job prospects for thousands. Who does society shun? In this enquiry, traversing the interrelation of law and sociology, the author, a retired law professor and advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa, asks why endless police and nancial resources are ploughed into the war on 'vice' while those who commit 'white-collar crime' seldom appear before a criminal court. How should we redress this seeming inequity? While some would urge more of the same, this study argues the case for decriminalisation of the remaining 'quality of life' offences and restoration of the criminal law as the first line of attack against major fraud. Drawing upon law cases, crime statistics, media reports and documentaries, and both academic and judicial opinion, J H Pain's book explores the underlying factors which continue to hamper the administration of justice today.