Recent Book: Potter's Historical Introduction to English Law
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5903200114 |
| Published date | 01 January 1959 |
| Date | 01 January 1959 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
variations
that
must exist in any force composed of
human
beings
are
somehow
made
matters to be filed and indexed in a
manner
calculated to
destroy all their charm.
"One
patrol
sergeant may require the performance
of tasks by his men
not
required by
other
sergeants,
or
their performance
in a different
manner."
We
hurry
on, to see what they do
about
this
familiar
and
pleasant characteristic of all the forces we have ever served
in. We find:
"When
variations are permitted without correctional effort,
the procedures must be considered and recorded as alternatives in. describ-
ing the organisation and operation of
the
force. These inherent differences
represent its
true
character."
And
there
you have the true character of the book. In theory excellent,
and
perhaps excellent in practice
for
the American policeman
for
whom.it
is written. But in this country, police officers have a
proper
and steady mis-
trust of "staff solutions" whenever they are urged as solutions. Such solu-
tions are well enough, we say, when they are premised by a warning
that
human
nature
has been ignored, as also has the local character of
the
officers' own force;
that
they are to be regarded merely as guides and no
more. And so it is with this admirable book.
It
should be a help to any
reader able to buy or borrow it, provided he has the practical ability to
translate its arguments into terms of Loamshire or Sheffingham, and does
not
let himself become quite as fussy as the
author
about
operationally
incorrect procedures
and
the rest of it.
If
he has
that
ability, of course, he
might well feel he does
not
need the book. T.C.W.
A. K. R.
KIRALFY
(Editor): Potter's Historical Introduction to English
Law. 4th Edition. Sweet &Maxwell. 45s.
THE
HISTORICAL
approach
to any subject is one which commends itself to
many
people and is, in addition, one which usually affords adeeper under-
standing of a subject
than
that
which the purely empirical approach
can
give. Law is no exception and,
for
the
latter
reason, some study of
the
history of law is necessary
for
any legal qualification. Potter's Historical
Introduction is by way of being a
standard
text book,
not
for
the history
of
the whole
body
of law,
for
one would
look
in vain here
for
the history
of the Constitution,
for
instance,
but
for
the history
1)[
the general private
law of this country.
The
three previous editions of this work have all
appeared
under
Professor Potter's own
name
and it is therefore interesting to examine the
alterations
made
in this fourth edition by Mr. A. K. R. Kiralfy.
The
change
which will commend itself most strongly to police officers is
that
the history
of Crime is now dealt with in a
chapter
separate
from
that
dealing with
Tort.
Not
that
this has been a
major
dissection, since
Potter
himself
dealt
with each of the subjects in turn,
but
for reference purposes
the
present
arrangement is obviously preferable. So, too, the provision of a table
of
statutes enhances the value of the
book
as a work of reference and
the
numbering of the footnotes on a
chapter
basis makes
for
less ambiguity
than
the
former
method of lettering.
By bringing the references up to 1957, the
author
has
done
all
that
could
have reasonably been expected
but
he has also been
able
to add
many
references to early cases which
throw
more
light on the development of
the
early law.
In spite of the addition of new material, by cutting
out
most of the
repetition and by deleting some of Potter's passages which were either
not
strictly necessary
or
which were matters of opinion, the volume has been
kept roughly to the same size as its predecessor.
For
instance, in dealing
With
the
history of the benefit of clergy, the third edition ouotes
the
translation of
the
Latin
"neck
verse,"
"Have
mercy
upon
me, 0
God,
after
Thy
great goodness and according
unto
the multitude
of
Thy
mercies do
away mine offences."
The
new edition mentions the
"neck
verse"
but
does
not
quote
it or give its reference (Psalm 51 v. 1.).
It
is obvious
from
the preface
that
the
author
is very conscious of the
tendency of law books to expand and therefore to make things progressively
more
difficult
for
the
student. One must sympathise with him, therefore,
January-Alarch 1959 65
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting