Abstract: | Plea bargaining is practised on a massive scale in the USA; many courts accept plea bargaining, instead of a trial before a court or jury, as a necessary and desirable practice designed to make the criminal justice system more efficient. This article first sets out the relevant principles relating to this vast field in the criminal justice system of the USA. It pays attention to the importance of a plea of guilty, the definition of plea bargaining, the constitutionality of plea bargaining, the justification of and reasons for plea bargaining, plea negotiations, requirements for plea bargaining, the position of the prosecutor and trial judge in the process of plea bargaining, sentencing guidelines and their effect on sentencing discretion, and the defendant and his right to counsel during plea bargaining. This is followed by a brief overview of the prosecution of crime in South Africa. Finally, the article addresses the question of whether all, some or none of the principles relating to plea bargaining are relevant to the South African legal system. Notes, ref. |