Review: Silence and Guilt
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X0207500209 |
| Published date | 01 April 2002 |
| Date | 01 April 2002 |
| Author | Jeremy Wheeler |
| Subject Matter | Review |
essential for police officers dealing with any but the simplest of
traffic cases. One can only hope that it is not so jealously
guarded in police stations today.
SILENCE AND GUILT
David Wolchover
London: Lion Court Lawyers, 2001
ISBN 0 9540254-0-7, price £23.50 net in the UK
Reviewed by Jeremy Wheeler
David Wolchover, head of Lion Court Chambers, has become
something of a giant in his field. Having practised at the criminal
bar since 1971 he has been recognised not only as a highly
credible and knowledgeable authority but one whose work is
broadly accessible. I therefore approached Silence and Guilt with
high expectations and I am pleased to say that I was not
disappointed.
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPO) was
held by some, including many police officers, to be long overdue
to 'even up the balance' between the rights of the accused and
the rights of the victim. For others it cut right to the heart of a
fundamental freedom, that of not being required to condemn
oneself out of one's own mouth. In Silence and Guilt Wolchover
takes us through the history of 'the right to silence', illustrating
the subject with case law, academic treatment and his own
incisive commentary. The publishers also claim on its cover that
the book's 'practical importance lies in the vital strategies it
contains
for
the successful defence
of
those suspects who elect to
stand upon their silence '. The book is clearly laid out, covering
in detail the stages of a criminal investigation and trial in relation
to the relevant sections of the CJPO. It concludes with a
reflection on the implications of the Human Rights Act 1998,
speculating as to what extent the Court of Appeal might invoke
Murray vUK in quashing convictions based mainly on the
evidence of silence.
There are, of course, tables of statutes, cases and statutory
instruments, circulars etc, but no index; a deliberate decision by
Wolchover as explained in the introduction. I agree with him that
in such a narrow subject one would not be particularly useful but
as a law student I would have found a bibliography helpful,
rather than having to trawl the footnotes to find details of
primary sources.
There cannot be a barristers' chambers, solicitors' office or a
faculty of law, police studies or criminology in the country that
188 The Police Journal, Volume 75 (2002)
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