Recent Book: Drafting the Charges: Precedents for Police Use
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8105400316 |
| Published date | 01 July 1981 |
| Author | J. D. Chidwick |
| Date | 01 July 1981 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
RECENT BOOKS
AN AID TO
THE
CRIMINAL LAWYER
RICHARD
BINGHAM.
o.c.. The Modern Cases and Statutes on Crown Court Crime.
Chichester: Barry Rose Publishers Ltd. £34.75.
This book is certainly a major contri- Recorders in the Crown Court.
bution to the criminal lawyer's tools of The contents are sensibly divided into
trade and deals with the subject matter in appropriate groupings, again for ease of
an extremely clear and concise manner. reference, with such refinements as
Excellent reference facilities and a good headnotes in different type sizes and
index combine to make the search for revealing case summaries to satisfy even
material an easy exercise, with relevant the most discerning of readers.
cases coming immediately to hand. All In essence, a happy amalgam of an
persons involved in the criminal law analytical tome and a quick reference
process will find it of great assistance, book, which serves both purposes well.
especially those acting as Judges or T.H.J.
AN AID TO THE ACCIDENT SCENE
R. B. YATT and R.
WATTS:
Manual
of
Road Accident Investigation (Volume 2).
London: Pitman Books Ltd. £6.50.
This book commences with basic
information in the field of accident
investigation, rapidly becomes compli-
cated with the introduction of formulae
and then returns to a good practical level
for the average investigator. The early
part, which deals with the preservation
and searching of the scene, iswell written
and illustrated, but I noted with interest
the suggested use of rear, high-intensity
red lamps at night which the authors' say
give greater detail than white lights. I
have to say that such use could wellbe
illegal under certain conditions and care
would have to be taken.
A lot of attention has beengiven to the
subject of critical speeds on bends, which
again is well illustrated, together with
numerous formulae for carrying out the
various calculations suggested. Although
sound in principle some of these appear
unnecessarily .cornplicated and no
account is taken of things such as spring
tensions. Further work .on formulae for
speed calculations is also included,
having in mind such factors as load
transfer and defective brakes.
As the book progresses it returns to the
more basic issues involved in accident
investigation and reconstruction by
considering the state
ofthe
weather, lines
of visibility, and road layouts. It also
goes into some depth with plan drawing
and gives examples of actual incidents
which are probably drawn from the
authors' personal files.
The remaining part of this publication
is
given
over
to
the
handling
characteristics of vehicles with regard to
such things as tyres, steering geometry
and braking defects.
Overall, this manual appears to have
been written with the established
accident investigator in mind and assuch
would be of little use to the beginner,
particularly the sections put aside for the
formulae
which
at
times
are
unnecessarily complicated. Nevertheless,
it is well written and illustrated and is a
good guide to accident investigation
techniques as indeed was the previous
volume in this series. R. W. SEARLE
DRAFTING
THE
CHARGES
BRIAN
G.
COASE:
Precedents
for
Police Use.
Chichester: Barry Rose Publishers Ltd. £12.
The object of this book is to assist police prosecuting solicitor and justices' clerks.
officers in drafting charges.
It
isbased on This co-operative project has been
work carried out by Thames Valley usefully extended by the author and the
Police in co-operation with the county
benefit
of
the
expertise
of
the
300 July 1981
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