Rescue from Crashed Aircraft
| Published date | 01 October 1953 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5302600408 |
| Date | 01 October 1953 |
| Author | W. Wood |
| Subject Matter | Article |
294
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
and
numerous
other
cases where it is an offence to do an
act
without
lawful authority, the person who sets up lawful
authority
must
prove
it,
and
the Prosecution have no need to prove the absence
of
lawful
authority. Ithink the onus
of
the negative averment in this case was
on the accused to prove the possession
of
the (insurance) policy
required by statute". Viscount Caldecote C.J. concludes his
judg-
ment in the case of
Rex
v. Oliver by saying,
"In
the circumstances
of
the present case we are
of
the opinion
that
the prosecution was
under
no necessity
of
giving prima facie evidence
of
the non-existence of a
licence". The appeal against the conviction was dismissed.
Another
decision which
supports
the fact that the
onus
in a case
of
this nature is on the defendant is that
of
Apothecaries Co. v. Bentley
(1824. I. C&P138). It was then stated in an action for penalties
for practising as an
apothecary
without
acertificate, the
onus
is on
the defendant to show
that
he has one.
Further
support
is found in Stevens' Digest
of
the Law
of
Evidence,
12th Edition, Par. 104, which states,
"In
considering the
amount
of
evidence necessary to shift the
burden
of proof, the
court
has regard
to the opportunities
of
knowledge with respect to the fact to be proved
which may be possessed by the parties respectively". When adefen-
dant
is charged with keeping a dog without having in force a licence,
it would be practically impossible, considering the unlimited
number
of post offices from which a licence may be obtained, for the Prose-
cution to prove aperson has no dog licence, it being a fact which is
peculiarly within the knowledge
of
the defendant.
Therefore Iwould respectfully submit
that
upon
proof
that
aperson
has kept a
dog
or driven a
motor
vehicle,
and
has
not
produced
a
licence upon request, it would seem
that
the
onus
is on the defendant
to prove
that
he had one at the time when the alleged offence was
committed,
and
if he does
not
wish to give evidence on
oath
and
he
IS silent on the
matter
he must be convicted.
Rescue
from
Crashed
Aircraft
By
SERGEANT
W.
WOOD
Kent County Constabulary
OF all the unexpected things to
happen
to the police officer in this
age
of
speed, be he on the beat in Town Patrol, on
Motor
Patrol,
or
country
push bike, the crashed aircraft comes literally
and
physically
out
of
the blue. Instinctively we, as police officers, want to rush to the
scene
and
drag
out
the
trapped
pilot.
If
we
don't
know
what
we are
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