Book Review: Blackstone's Criminal Practice 1992
| Date | 01 August 1992 |
| Published date | 01 August 1992 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201839205600311 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
Blackstone's Criminal Practice 1992. Edited by
PETER
MURPHY,
London:
Blackstone Press. Price £95.
The last two or three years have brought their fair share of doom and
gloom for the criminal practitioner. The largest share has been rightly
reserved for the various miscarriage of justice cases and the
proof-if
proofwere
needed-that
our
system of criminal justice is fallible. Following
on behind are comparatively lesser concerns, but still perhaps fundamental
and not entirely unrelated. The legal aid funding debate and the proposed
introduction of fixed fees in the magistrates' courts raises concerns as to
the continuing viability of such work, and whether these changes will
ensure that the quality of work performed for clients will remain as high
as it has in the past in the vast majority of cases, or whether it will fall
leading to a risk of further instances of miscarriage of justice in the future.
Throw into the pot the uncertain nature of the broth the Royal Commission
may be preparing, and criminal practitioners may be tempted to choose a
less fraught area of practice.
One shining light in the otherwise bleak landscape was the appearance
last year of the first edition of Blackstone's Criminal Practice. Many
applauded the entrepreneurial spirit which brought first the concept and
then the publication of this work. The hour may have been unpropitious,
but the work surely deserved to succeed. As soon as it came out one could
see that it positively oozed
quality-quality
in the team of legal experts
who had been assembled to write according to their specialisms; quality in
the taut nature of the writing, precise in its detail but not fussy or over-
elaborate; quality in its presentation, a good, clear typeface, six sections
with appendices, and well indexed. The first edition seems to have been
an unqualified success, reprinted twice and having received plaudits from
the bench, Bar, and the academic world.
The 1992 edition (how useful to have a book a year!) builds on the
success of the first edition. We have had the law updated with references
to the Criminal Justice Act 1991, the Road Traffic Act 1991, and many
less important Acts and bills. Note is taken of important cases decided in
the last year. A thumb index assists readers to find their way between the
relevant sections with greater ease. The publishers are once again to be
congratulated on this first rate reference work, marginally larger than last
year's but still compact enough to be genuinely portable. A shining light
indeed!
Criminal Procedure and Sentencing in the Magistrates' Court, (2nd ed). By
INIGO
BING,
London: Sweet &Maxwell. Price £55.
The
first edition of this helpful and comprehensive guide was well received.
It
therefore comes as no surprise that the publishers have gone to a second
308
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