Rasmus Wandall
Forsker
The functionality of the criminal justice system
Faculty of Law
Primary Research
- Law and Public Trust
- Criminal Procedure, Sentencing, and Penology
- Comparative Law
- Empirical Studies of Law
Rasmus H. Wandall researches and publishes on criminal justice and legal regulation. He uses both legal and empirical research methods. The subjects of his work include judicial courts and prosecution services, correctional institutions, criminal procedure, legal regulation in general, and comparative law. His current research focuses on how principal criminal justice institutions in different legal cultures respond strategically to low public trust and lack of legitimacy. Also, he researches regulatory strategies to structure sentencing decision-making in Scandinavian jurisdictions.
As senior advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions in Denmark, he has also been leading, designing, and implementing reform projects for the prosecution service since 2007. Most recently, he has been advising the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia on the development and implementation of criminal sentencing guidelines (2012-), and the Federal Ministry of Justice on particular issues of prosecution reform (2013-).
Rasmus H. Wandall also teaches, advises and guides, both at graduate and post-graduate level.
Employment record
|
Period |
Employer |
Position |
|
2012- |
Faculty of Law, University of Bergen |
Senior Research Fellow (forsker) |
|
2011- |
Faculty of Law, University of Lund |
Affiliated Senior Research Fellow |
|
2007- |
Danish Director of Public Prosecutions (Rigsadvokaten) (on leave 2011-) |
Senior Advisor |
|
2005-2007 |
Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen |
Assistant Research Professor |
|
2005 |
UC Berkeley, School of Law |
Robbins Fellow |
|
2004-2005 |
New York University, School of Law |
Global Research Fellow |
|
2004 |
Danish Courts (Domstolsstyrelsen) |
Legal Officer |
|
2000-2004 |
Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen |
Ph.D. scholar |
|
1997-1999 |
The Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman |
Legal Assistant |
|
1996 |
World Health Organisation, Quality of Care and Technology Unit in Europe
|
Researcher |
Other Positions
|
Period |
Institution |
Position |
|
2006 |
Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht |
Visiting academic |
|
2006 |
New York University, School of Law |
Criminal Justice Research Fellow |
|
2005-2006 |
Faculty of Law, Oxford University |
Visiting Fellow |
|
2005 |
School of Law, University of Minnesota |
Visiting Academic |
|
2003 |
Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Warsaw |
Visiting Scholar |
|
2001 |
UC Berkeley, School of Law, Center for Jurisprudence and Social Policy |
Visiting Scholar |
Teaching and lectures
(2012-) External senior lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Addis Ababa
- Graduate-courses in comparative criminal justice (2013)
- Supervision of graduate students (IPSS, University of Addis Ababa)
(2008-2011) External senior lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen
- Graduate-course in sentencing theory and practice (2008-2011)
- Undergraduate course (plenary lectures) in criminal law (2011)
(2000-) Lectures in criminal law, comparative law, sociology of law, and penal theory (University of Copenhagen, University of Lund, University of Bergen, New York University School of Law, University of California at Berkeley, University of Oxford, University of Warzaw, University of Addis Ababa)
(2001- 2002) Senior lecturer in sociology of law, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen
Selected prizes, awards, nominations, and scholarships
(2009) Nomination for the prize ’young scholar 2008’ and for ’book of the year 2008’ in Socio-Legal Studies Association (United Kingdom).
(2005) Danish Research Foundation’s two year post doctoral scholarship
(2005) Robbins Fellowship (University of California, Berkeley)
(2004) Global Research Fellowship, Global Law School Program, New York University, School of Law
(2001) Nordic Research Council for Criminology. Scholarship for study of Danish county courts
(2001-2002) Ministry of Justice Research Foundation. Funding for empirical study of sentencing decision-making
(1999) Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra’s Scholarship for international studies
Other activities
(2011-) Member of Scientific Research Committee, International Association of Prosecutors
(2003) Co-organizer and chair of seminar on the modernization of Danish courts, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen
(2002) Co-organizer of seminar on the East-expansion of the EC and the related legal consequences and challenges
(2002-2004) Co-organizer of monthly socio-legal fora, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen
(2000-2002) Member of council for Ph.D.-studies, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen
(1997) Inspector Collegi, Elers Kollegium
International Networks and Societies
Member of the European working group on sentencing and penal decision-making (European Society of Criminology)
Member of the Scientific Research Committee, International Association of Prosecutors
Member of the Nordic Society for Criminal Law and Criminology
Member of the Law and Society Association
Member of the European Society of Criminology
Books, edited volumes and dissertations
(2008) Decisions to Imprison. Court Decision-Making Inside and Outside of the Law. (Book-series: Advances in Criminology). Ashgate Publishing. 320 p.
(2008) Strafudmåling. Tekstsamling til kursusfaget (red.) Københavns Universitet. 510 p.
(2004) Imprisonment. A Socio-Legal Study of Danish County Courts’ Decisions to Impose Immediate Imprisonment, University of Copenhagen, 339 p. + appendix.
(2001) Disciplinærregler, disciplinering og legitimering. Retlige disciplinære regler og sanktioner, som de anvendes i to danske arresthuse, Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag, 2001, 107 p.
Articles, etc.
In progress
”Consistency and the Architecture of Sentencing. Comparative studies of sentencing decision-making”. Ongoing working paper. p102.
“Trust, Distrust, and Criminal Justice”. p24.
"Empirical Descriptions of Sentencing Decision-Making". p20
Published
(2014) “Comparative Courts and Sentencing” in Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice, David Weisburd and Gerben Bruinsma (eds.). Springer Publications.
(2013) “Traveaux Preparatoires and Criminal Sentencing” (Forarbejder og strafudmåling) in Ugeskrift for Retsvæsen. (forthcoming).
(2012) “Comments to Amended Federal Sentencing Manual 2/2012. Guidelines and Issues of Discretion and Proportionality”. Report. JFA-PFE.
(2012) Guiding sentencing decision-making through sentencing databases (Styring af straffen gennem domsdatabaser). Nordisk Tidsskrift for kriminalvidenskab, Vol. 2, 145-179.
(2010) “Penal Orders, Confession-Triggered Summary Procedures and the Weakening of the Legality Principle”. Chapter in book: World Plea-Bargaining, Thaman, Stephen (ed.). University of Carolina Press. p201-230.
(2010) ”Resisting risk assessment? Pre-sentence reports and individualized sentencing in Denmark” in Punishment and Society. The International Journal of Penology, 12(3) 329-347.
(2009) ”Straffastsættelsens retlige validitet og kontekstuelle åbenhed. Kommentar til Leif Petter Olaussen” in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab 2009, 81-85.
(2008) “Researching Law in Denmark” (2nd ed) med Rosendahl, Steen. Globallex. Mirela Roznovschi (ed.). Hauser Global Law School Program, NYU School of Law. 14 p.
(2007) “Actuarial Risk Assessment. The Loss of Recognition of the Individual Offender” in Law, Probability, and Risk. 5, 175-200.
(2006) “Words or Numbers. A Comparative Study of Equality in Sentencing” inCriminal Law Forum. 1-41, issue 1, Vol. XVII.
(2006) “Consensual Criminal Procedures: Plea and Confession Bargaining and Abbreviated Procedures to Simplify Criminal Procedure” in Proceedings of the XVIIth Congress of Comparative Law. Utrecht 2006. The International Academy of Comparative Law. 34p.
(2006) “Researching Danish Law” in Globallex. Mirela Roznovschi (ed.). Hauser Global Law School Program, NYU School of Law. 13 p.
(2005) ”Analytical Profile of the Legal Education in Denmark”. Rapport til Graduate School, NYU School of Law. 10 p.
(2005) “Equality and Sentencing Guidelines. A Comparative Study of Sentencing Law in Minnesota and Denmark”. Hauser Global Law School Working Paper 03/05(Peer reviewed). (ISSN 1553-1724). NYU School of Law. Chair: Professor Joseph Weiler.
(2005) “Women and Crime in Sweden in the Period 16th to 19th Century”. Report, University of California at Berkeley, July 2005. 63 p.
(2004) “Kommunikationen i retssalen”, Danmarks Domstole, Vol. 25, 2004.
(2004) “Principper i Praksis”, Danmarks Domstole, Vol. 24, 2004.
(2004) “Ensartethed i straffastsættelsen?”, Danmarks Domstole, Vol. 23, 2004.
(2004) “Risikovurderinger og idømmelse af ubetinget fængsel”, Scandinavian Research Council of Criminology 46th Research Seminar, April 2004, 10 p.
Book reviews:
(2003) Ralph J. Henham: Sentence Discounts and the Criminal Process. Ashgate Dartmouth i Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab, 2003.
(2001) Malcolm M. Feely and Edward Rubin: Judicial Policy Making and the Modern State, Cambridge University Press, 1998, i Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab, 2001.
Representative selection of working papers/addresses:
(2012) “Law for a Sustainable Development”. Paper presented as keynote address at “Conference on Law and Development: Legal Pluralism, Traditional Justice Systems, and the Role of Legal Actors in Ethiopia”, 15-17th Nov, 2012, Addis Ababa (Institute for Justice and Legal Systems Research and UNDP).
(2012) “Trust, criminal justice and local dispute resolution mechanisms” Working paper presented at the W G Hart workshop for Globalization, criminal law and criminal justice, Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, June 2012.
(2011) “The Judicial Role in Courtroom Interaction: Combining Substantive and Formal Law in Criminal Sentencing” Working paper. ESC symposium, Oxford, 14thApril, 2011
(2010) ”Consistency and the Architecture of Sentencing. Comparative studies of sentencing decision-making”. Working paper presented at European Society of Criminology, Liege, Belgium. p90
(2007) “Bridging the Gap. Law and Context in the Study of Criminal Courtrooms”. Prepared for the Conference New Directions in Courtroom Research, Buchmann faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University, May 2007
(2005) ”Actuarial Risk Assessment, Limiting Imprisonment, and Equality in Sentencing. A Study of Sentencing Law in Virginia and in Denmark.”Transdisciplinary Seminar on Law, Probability & Risk in Penal Justice, University of Edinburgh and the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, October 2005.
(2005) “Numerical and Narrative Sentencing Guidance. A Comparative Study of Sentencing Structures in Minnesota and in Denmark” Nordisk Workshop i Strafferet, Freiburg. May 2005.
(2003) “Afgørende faktorer ved idømmelse af ubetinget fængselsstraf”, præsenteret i Dansk Kriminalistforening. København, December 2003.
(2003) “Fængslingens ideologier”, Nordisk Workshop i strafferet, Århus, May 2003.
(2003) “Legal Closure and Social Openness. Reporting an Ethnographic Study of Daily Sentencing Decision-making in a Danish County Court”. Presented at The Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Warsaw, March 2003.
(2002) “Rationalities of Incarceration in Sentencing Decision-making”, Sentencing and Society. Second International Sentencing Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, June 2002.