Review: The Proof of Guilt
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835602000112 |
| Published date | 01 January 1956 |
| Date | 01 January 1956 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
QUARTERLY SUMMARY 1°3
CONVICTIONS
IN
GUERNSEY DURING OCCUPATION
Quin
v. The
Queen
The
appellants to the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council had been convicted by the Royal Court of Guernsey
in 1942 during the German occupation. One ground of
appeal was that by reason of that occupation the appellants
were unable to
put
forward at the trials their real defence,
namely, that the alleged offences were really acts of sabotage.
This
ground was rejected, the remedy, if any, being the
prerogative of mercy. Secondly it was said that admissions
or confessions of the offences were brought about by a letter
written by the German authorities that they would take
proceedings themselves if the admissions were denied.
It
was held that as regards the appellants who did not subse-
quently admit before the Royal Court that they had committed
the offences the convictions must be quashed (9th November,
1955)·
Reviews
THB PROOF OF GUILT, by Glanville Williams,
LL.D.
Stevens and Sons, Ltd.
17s. 6d. net.
Dr. Glanville Williams delivered the seventh series of the Hamlyn
Lectures at Birmingham University and they have been published under the
auspices of the Hamlyn
Trust
in book form.
Dr. Williams examines critically the process of an English Criminal
trial and, if he does nothing else, he gives a severe jolt to our complacency
and our belief that our system of trial is the best in the world.
The
learned
author thinks that it is,
but
he is clearly of the opinion that
it
is not perfect
and that there is much to be improved.
The
erudition of the author and his complete familiarity with criminal
law make his studies not merely readable
but
convincing and few lawyers
could
put
his book down without having been forced to admit the truth of
many of the criticisms.
To
quote
but
one-in
England everyman is presumed
to be innocent until he is proved guilty; we repudiate that philosophy,
however, by imprisoning adefendant on remand in conditions far from good;
we keep him in a wretched cell at the court, and we stand him in a cage when
in court.
The
hearsay rule, evidence of character, joint trials, the
jury
system-these
are
but
a few of the many matters coming under the author's
critical pen.
This
is a book that will be enjoyed by lawyer and layman alike
although perhaps one should be a lawyer to extract full value from it.
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