... pleas were considered ill-advised, and empirical studies focusing on particular jurisdictions indicate that guilty pleas and plea bargaining in both the United States and the United Kingdom were relatively rare until the latter half of the nineteenth century.2 During the course of the eighteenth century, English criminal procedure underwent a transformation from a predominately non-adversarial system to an identifiably adversarial one. The introduction of these adversarial features, while providing necessary safeguards for defendants' rights, at the same time greatly lengthened and complicated the previous summary jury proceedings. With more issues of law raised, more expert witnesses testifying, and more cross-examination, jury trials became time-consuming, complex events dominated by professional advocates. As trials became more complex, the lawyers who were beginning to dominate them developed a more practical alternative for case disposition and that alternative was plea bargaining.3 Although the adversary system originated in England, English procedures are now considerably less ...

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