Recent Book: Criminal Procedure: Cases and Statutes on Criminal Procedure
| Date | 01 October 1973 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7304600413 |
| Published date | 01 October 1973 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
RECENT BOOKS
HARRIS MARK III
BRIAN
HARRIS:
Criminal Jurisdiction of Magistrates. 3rd Edn,
Barry
Rosel
Justice of the Peace.
Hardback
£7.
This
is an
already
well established
work
from
the
hand
of a well-
known magistrates' clerk.
It
per-
forms, alittle less comprehensively,
the task which is classically per-
formed
by Stone's Justices Manual.
It
is in effect a guide to all aspects
of criminal
work
in magistrates'
courts.
It
covers administration, pro-
cedure, evidence
and
at great length
sentencing.
The
form
it takes is the setting
out
of
appropriate
statutory provi-
sions introduced by a general
short
essay setting the scene.
Each
sec-
tion set out is then
annotated
in the
usual way.
The
fair
tests are accuracy
and
usefulness.
The
book
appears
to be
most carefully produced.
No
doubt
frequent use would show the occa-
sional infelicity
hut
there
can
be
every confidence in the soundness
of the work. Usefulness depends
upon the use to which the
book
is
put.
The
essays on various sen-
tences,
although
they
make
refer-
ence to
an
occasional
book
or
piece
of research
are
far
too brief to
enable adefence advocate to
frame
his attitudes to the appropriateness
of a
particular
sentence.
The
book
must be regarded primarily 'as a
basis for the lawyer, be he prose-
cutor
or
defender.
It
will give
him
a
sure
foundation
but
he will need
to dig
more
widely
and
think
more
deeply in a difficult case.
Harris
can
be recommended to
police readers as a basic tool.
It
is
weakest,
and
this is
not
acriticism,
where the prosecutors themselves
tend to
be
weakest. It does, how-
ever, provide auseful
and
necessary
base without which the most per-
fect understanding of a situation
can
be ruined. J.C.W.
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
A. K.
MUGHALL:
Cases and Statutes on Criminal Procedure. Butterworths.
Hardback
£5.60;
Paperback
£3.60.
This
is an aid
prepared
princi-
pally
for
students.
It
falls into two
parts
- a collection of cases and a
collection of statutes
and
rules.
The
chief concern is the strict area of
criminal procedure. Evidence is
not
included.
There
is, however, a
short
section on punishment.
The
collec-
tion of statutes covers similar
ground.
There
is no reference even
in footnotes to
procedural
literature.
The
book
is indeed useful.
It
also
makes fascinating reading.
The
practical problems of mounting a
trial are at times formidable. This
book
serves as a useful starting
point
for
considering most of the
problem
areas.
It
is by its very
nature
aselection and therefore cri-
ticism is
far
too
easy.
The
author
has
tried to include the most impor-
tant
recent cases and he succeeds
fairly well.
Perhaps
the biggest weakness is
that
the
truth
is
that
cases alone
will rarely stand up
into
acoherent
section.
They
need
an
introduction
October 1973
- if only in the
form
of a cross-
heading
and
they also
read
more
easily if embedded in the appropri-
ate legislative provisions.
Thus
the
Law
Reports
themselves,
rather
than
let
the
reader
wait until
the
Judge
is ready to
quote
it, set out the cru-
cial statutory provision in a foot-
note.
The
book
could be improved
in this way.
The
selection of materials is not
without its idiosyncracies.
Thus
in
the section on persons suffering
from
mental disorder R. v. Cox [1%8] I
W.L.R. 308 is cited.
The
passages
culled
from
the
report
show clearly
that
the
court
relied on
"the
prin-
ciples enunciated in R. v. Morris
It
is clear
that
Morris is
more
important
than
the
later
Cox which would
have
been
better
as a
footnote
perhaps. On a
lighter note, do we really need to
remember
the
odd
way things were
done
in
Oldham
before the last
war?
See R. v. Gee [1936] 2 K.B.
442. J.C.W.
379
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