Recent Book: Evidence: Evidence in Criminal Cases
| Published date | 01 March 1962 |
| Date | 01 March 1962 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X6203500216 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
assist the ends of
justice?"
(pp. 50/51). On p. 264 constables are instructed
that
offenders against ss. 21
and
22 of the Larceny Act, 1861,
"should
not
be apprehended without warrant unless caught in the
act".
Page 272 contains
an instruction
that
aconstable should not apprehend aperson found with garden
produce in his possession merely on suspicion of his having stolen it. Similar
passages appear in the eighth edition published in 1938, and should, after 23
years, have been subjected to some alteration.
The publishers have included some excellent material, which can be of the
greatest assistance to the present-day police officer but how unfortunate
it is
that
it does not include some very important legislation and
that
the pub-
lishers did not revise the work completely.
Had
this been done they would have
produced a work which would have had no serious competitor and would have
been assured of success from the day of publication.
C.H.e.
EVIDENCE
1. D.
MORTON:
Evidence in Criminal Cases. A Basic Guide. Butterworths.
7s. 6d.
THIS
LITTLE
BOOK
is too elementary to be of real value to a police officer engaged
in court work, and unless the candidate is very fortunate in the questions set it
would not suffice for the study of
"Evidence"
for purposes of promotion
examinations in the United Kingdom. But it is not without interest and what
there is of it is well written.. The
author
is of The King's Inns, Dublin, and
Professor of Law, The Osgoode Hall Law School, Ontario, Canada. The
book
can be read in half an
hour
and one can imagine the lack of detail when an attempt
is made to deal with such a subject in 60 or so pages.
All aspects are certainly mentioned-Admissibility, Character, Opinion,
Hearsay, Complaints, Competency, Privilege, etc.,
but
of necessity the
author
has
too often to say words to the effect
that
there are certain exceptions which he
does not propose to deal with in detail. Some of these details are important.
In some respects this is a pity. This little book is on the right lines; as far as
it goes it is written clearly and simply. Such a work is badly needed, but it should
be extended to be of value.
Still, there are many things of interest in the book including comparisons
between the United Kingdom, Canadian and American procedures. One of part-
icular interest is
that
an accused person in
Canada
cannot make an unsworn state-
ment from the dock. Another is
that
a witness must answer aquestion
put
to
him even though the answer might make him a self-confessed criminal. There are
safeguards, of course, in a subsequent trial, but the procedure is very interesting.
I also like the
author's
comments on res gestae. Ithink he is right when he
says:
"Latin
phrases should be viewed with suspicion. As a general rule, if
you cannot express a thought in your own language and insist on saying it in
Latin, it is fair inference that you do not know what you are talking
about"!
In words frequently used in the
Court
of Criminal Appeal:
"J
agree." He is
also right when he says there is no such thing as
"hearsay"
evidence: it is
"
hearsay"
use of evidence.
Jlike his description of the confusion which arises in the question
of"
burden
of
proof".
He illustrates it by a story
that
during the last war some brilliant
administrator in the American Air Force had the bright idea of posting men
alphabetically to various camps. One fine Spring morning one thousand men
named
SMITH
arrived at a camp in Texas! I also learned the origin of the
term"
counting
heads".
It
was the old French system of evaluating evidence
by counting the heads of witnesses for and against. .
Ithink the book is best summed up in the words of the curate who was thankmg
his hostess for a meal, when he said:
"It
was all right what there was of it ",
then, realising his
faux
pas, corrected himself, by saying,
"J
mean it was all
right such as it
was".
The book is of interest; Jdo wish Tcould say it is of practical value.
T.L.
147 March-April 1962
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