The comparative approach is one of the older methods of research and instruction. Comparative research involves the study of similarities and differences in cultures, societies, and institutions. Comparative criminal justice can prove to be indispensable as a tool for the study of America’s own system to understand it better. This text is designed to serve as a foundation for utilizing the comparative approach. It surveys foreign justice systems with a format similar to an introductory text on the criminal justice system of the United States. It has involved upgrading materials on the justice systems of all seven countries presented in the text, which include: England, Canada, France, Sweden, Japan, Russia, and China. Within each chapter, an updated survey description is presented on the representative country’s criminal justice system components, specifically government, police, judiciary, law, corrections, and juvenile justice. The history of each criminal justice component is reviewed; the organization and administration are described; the roles of criminal justice practitioners are examined; the legal procedures are explained; and some of the critical issues facing each component of the country's criminal justice system are assessed. The introductory chapter suggests four concepts that should provide the reader with a strategy for comparing the countries presented in the book and for comparing each country with the United States. The four concepts suggested as points of reference are the nation state, legal system, democracy, and systems theory. Country-by-country bibliography, and index of names and terms