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Professor Shawn Boyne has been invited to her current scholarship at the American Society of Comparative Law’s annual works-in-progress workshop. The event, which is sponsored by the American Society of Comparative Law (ASCL), will be held at the University of Illinois College of Law April 15 and 16.

This is the second time Professor Boyne has been invited to participate in this event, which showcases the work of both junior and senior scholars in the field. Boyne’s paper, “The Accountability of German Prosecutors,” explores the extent to which prosecutors in Germany are held publicly accountable for their decision-making. Boyne contrasts the institutional position and constraints on German prosecutors with the American experience. Given that some prosecutors in the United States have come under increasing attack for suppressing evidence, inflating charges against suspects, and contributing to the nation’s incarceration crisis, in this comparative inquiry Boyne hopes to explain how differing conceptions of democracy and the law itself may explain why German prosecutors are lobbying for more independence from democratic accountability, while commentators in the U.S. seek to hold prosecutors more accountable to the public.

This year’s workshop is organized by three of the country’s top experts in comparative law, including Maximo Langer of the University of California at Los Angeles, Jacqueline Ross of the University of Illinois College of Law, and Kim Lane Scheppele of Princeton University. The annual workshop is a forum in which comparative law works in progress can be explored among colleagues in a serious and thorough manner.

Professor Boyne http://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/faculty-staff/profile.cfm?Id=392  teaches criminal law and procedure, cybercrime, and comparative national security law. She serves as co-chair of the Global Crisis Leadership Forum.