Criminal Law and Practice in Scotland
| Date | 01 April 1958 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5803100204 |
| Published date | 01 April 1958 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
92
THE
POLICE JOURNAL
in s. 1 that for the purposes of the Act. "forgery is the making of a
false document in order that it may be used as genuine."
For
the
purpose of removing doubt the Criminal Justice Act, 1925. s. 35 (1),
provides that a document may be a false document for the purposes of
the Forgery Act notwithstanding that it is not false in any such manner
as is described in s. 1 of the Forgery Act.
The appeal was not concerned with a case in which no entry had
been made and the Court did not express a formal opinion whether it
is forgery if an entry which should have been made is left out. But it
was the general opinion of the five members of the Court that if a
man has a cash book and proceeds to make false entries in it so that
it does not represent the truth and does not represent what he received
and what he paid out, that book is a false document. Although in
R. v. Hopkins &Collins an indictment might have been preferred
under the Falsification of Accounts Act, the Court came to the con-
clusion on the facts (which must have been accepted by the jury) that
the mode of keeping the books fell within the words of the Forgery
Act. 1913. The appeals were dismissed.
Criminal
Law
and
Practice
in
Scotland
BANKRUPTCY
LAW
Kaye v. H.M. Advocate (1957, S.L.T. 357)
While only rarely will police officers have to deal with matters
relating to bankruptcy, this case again underlines the necessity for
strict accuracy in framing charges.
The
narrative of the charge against Kaye was that he was an un-
discharged bankrupt, having been sequestrated at Kendal. Westmor-
land. On the calling of the complaint, Kaye challenged the relevancy
of the complaint on the ground that the statement "having been
sequestrated at Kendal" was wrong because sequestration could only
take place in Scotland, and Kendal was not in Scotland.
The Sheriff rejected this argument but it was upheld by the High
Court. Lord Macintosh. who gave the opinion of the Court, saying
"sequestration in bankruptcy is a purely Scottish procedure available
only in the case of debtors subject to the Supreme Courts of Scotland
and whatever happened to Kaye at Kendal he was certainly not
sequestrated there. According to the indictment Kaye was an un-
discharged bankrupt because he had been sequestrated at Kendal. In
To continue reading
Request your trial