Review: The Criminal Law of Scotland
| Published date | 01 January 1968 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201836803200107 |
| Date | 01 January 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
CRIMINAL
LAW
ADDITIONS
AND
ALTERATIONS
69
and
the
magistrates'
court
(because
of
s, 56 (5)) does
not
order
disqualification
under
s, 5
of
the
Road
Traffic
Act,
1962,
it
may
nevertheless
make
an
order
disqualifying
him
until
he
is
dealt
with
by
the
Court
to
which
he is
committed.
Review
THE
CRIMINAL
LAW
OF
SCOTLAND,
by G. H. Gordon, Senior Lecturer in
Criminal Law in
the
University of Edinburgh; sometime Procurator
Fiscal Depute
at
Edinburgh. W. Green &Son Ltd., Edinburgh. Price
£12.12S. net.
Some years ago
the
then
Lord
Justice General, Lord Cooper, casti-
gated the legal profession on its reluctance to spend money on text-books.
These strictures were repeated in February of this year in a Glasgow Bar
Association's Newsletter,
the
concluding
paragraph
of which commences
-"We
MUST
buy
the
books",
and
continued
"during
1967 Gerald
Gordon's eagerly awaited volume on Criminal
Law
...
will be published.
They
will
appear
expensive
but
they must automatically
appear
in
our
offices".
It
will be noted
that
other books
than
Dr. Gordon's were there
referred to.
Dr.
Gordon approaches his subject
not
only with a fresh mind
but
from a new angle.
In
recenttime the StandardWorks have been Macdonald
on the Criminal Law of Scotland, last published in 1948
and
Renton
and
Brown in 1956. Both these works, however, were simply new editions of
older recognised books.
One
wonders whether in planning his book
Dr.
Gordon
had
in
mind
the
student, the prosecutor,
the
pleader in
criminal courts, or the general practitioner whose advice on criminal
matters might only be sought on
rare
occasions. Be
that
as it
may
it is of
value to them all
and
the statement in
the
Bar Association's letter can be
reiterated with confidence, this book
MUST
appear
on
our
shelves.
The
volume is presented in two "books"
(I)
The
General Theory,
and
(2) Specific Crimes.
The
Introduction to
the
First Book should be
carefully studied by anyone proposing to take
an
active
part
in criminal
work.
The
principles there enunciated should be clear in the
mind
of
every criminal lawyer.
Not
only is there ample citation of authority
but
the
author
is not afraid to comment adversely on judicial pronounce-
ments. Where he does so he makes it perfectly clear
that
he is expressing
his own opinion
and
backs it
up
by well reasoned argument. Considerable
research has gone into
the
chapters dealing with subjects on which many
lawyers
are
delightfully vague.
Art
and
Part;
Intention; Mens Rea;
Diminished Responsibility
and
the effect of Intoxication
are
all fully dealt
with
and
helpful arguments propounded for
and
against certain develop-
ments of
our
criminal law. While
the
line of distinction between previous
concert
and
art
and
part
might have been more sharply drawn, acomplete
chapter is devoted to the subject
and
with
the
full index
the
subject is
adequately covered.
It
is refreshing to find
an
author
who is
not
afraid to
cast doubts on
the
soundness of opinions expressed by eminentjudges of
the
past. This is noticeable when he deals with attempted crimes
and
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