Review: Blackstone's Criminal Practice 2007, Drugs and Popular Culture: Drugs, Media and Identity in Contemporary Society, Self-Defence in Criminal Law
| Author | Faiza Qureshi,Rob R. Jerrard,Sean O'Sullivan,Jon Mack |
| DOI | 10.1350/pojo.2007.80.2.184 |
| Date | 01 June 2007 |
| Published date | 01 June 2007 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
ROB R. JERRARD
Reviews Editor
www.rjerrard.co.uk
REVIEWS
BLACKSTONE’S CRIMINAL PRACTICE 2007
Peter Murphy and John Phillips
Oxford University Press, 2006
ISBN-10: 0–19–920591–4/ ISBN-13: 978–0–19–920591–2;
price £165 HB
Reviewed by Jon Mack
There are several sources of information on the current position
of the criminal law. Police officers may turn to the trusty Beat
Officer’s Companion or Butterworths Police Law. Typically,
younger officers may use online services, such as NCALT or the
Police National Legal Database (PNLD) maintained by West
Yorkshire Police. Lawyers and academics may prefer the soph-
istication of LexisNexis or WestLawUK. Statutes, parliamentary
publications, and House of Lords opinions are also directly and
freely available online from the Stationery Office.
The question which arises is: what place does a book have in
the fast-paced modern world of criminal law and practice? Your
answer probably depends on your knowledge and experience of
using online services. Yet, even a glance at the spine of this book
should tell the prospective reader enough about its provenance to
dispel any misgivings.
Blackstone’s Criminal Practice 2007 is, quite simply, excel-
lent. An annual publication, it is an encyclopedia of the rules and
regulations of the criminal justice system. However, publishing a
tome such as this once a year may not be often enough to keep
up with the legislative whimsy of government, so Oxford
University Press has a companion website, with quarterly
updates on developments in the law. The content of these
updates goes far beyond that offered by comparable updates,
such as CENTREX’s monthly updates. The breadth and depth of
the analysis is wonderful, and, while it may not be much
practical use for a police officer, it should certainly provoke
discussion and debate among colleagues as to the likely implica-
tions of new law.
The text of the book is in a new format, and is divided into
six parts. One of the shortest is the section on the criminal law.
184 The Police Journal, Volume 80 (2007)
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