Review: Cases in Court
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835001400111 |
| Published date | 01 January 1950 |
| Date | 01 January 1950 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
REVIEWS
PROBATION,
by H. HOMFRAY COOPER,
LL.B.,
Clerk to
the
Justices of
the
County Borough of Southend-on-Sea
and
of
the
Petty
Sessional Division
of Rochford. London. Shaw &Sons
Ltd.
Price 215.
This hand-book on probation can be divided into two parts. The
first comprises areprint of those
parts
of
the
Criminal Justice Act, 1948,
the
Children
and
YoungPersons Act, 1933,
the
Education Act, 1937,
and
the
Money Payments (Justices Procedure) Act, 1935, which are concerned
with
the
work of probation officers.
The
rest of
the
book comprises a
reprint of Probation Rules
and
Home Office circulars.
The
statutes
are
annotated
and
the
reader
will
find
the
notes quite
helpful. Mistakes, probably in proof-reading, spoil
the
reading of some
of
the
notes.
The
real value of this book lies in
the
fact
that
all
the
relevant
matter
dealing
with
probation-statutes,
rules
and
circulars-
are bound in one volume making reference easy. Having regard to
the
high proportion of pages occupied by official publications
the
price is
rather
high,
but
perhaps
that
is offset by
the
book's
utility
value.
CASES
IN
COURT, by
PATRICK
HASTINGS,
K.C.
William Heinemann
Ltd.
Price 155. net.
Sir
Patrick
Hastings has retold
the
stories of a number of
the
famous
trials in which he was engaged on one side or
the
other.
The
volume is
of
great
interest,
not
so
much
from
the
legal aspect,
but
for
the
light
it
throws on
the
wide range of
human
emotions
and
characteristics displayed
by
the
persons described. Told in clear well-written English
the
book
is a worthy addition to
this
class of literature.
Sir
Patrick
makes
the
assertion
that
every case has one vital
point:
it
may
be hidden in a mass of irrelevancies,
but
it
is
there-"there
is
always one
and
never more
than
one". He suggests
that
the
ability to
find
that
point
and
stick to
it
to
the
exclusion of all others is
the
hall-
mark
of
the
good advocate. How
true
this
is.
How
many
times have
courts
had
to listen to seemingly endless cross-examination on things
that
do
not
matter,
the
one vital
point
being skirted or even deliberately
missed. Sir Patrick's illustrations of
the
applications of this principle
are illuminating
and
should be read by all aspirants for success
at
the
Bar. A splendid book, well worth
the
money.
SOCIETY
AND
ITS
CRIMINALS, by
PAUL
REIWALD
(translated from
the
German by T. E.
JAMES).
Messrs. William Heinemann Medical Books
Ltd.
Price 215.
Od.
net.
Herr
Hering certainly poisoned his first wife
and
probably poisoned
the
succeeding four wives.
In
addition, he carried
out
a whole series
of frauds by impersonating heirs to property.
In
his career of crime he
103
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