THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF SCOTLAND IN MATTERS CRIMINAL BY SIR GEORGE MACKENZIE. Ed Olivia F Robinson Edinburgh: Stair Society (www.stairsociety.org), Stair Society vol 59, 2012. xxxi + 487 pp. ISBN 9781872517261. £45.
| Date | 01 May 2014 |
| Author | Douglas Cusine |
| Published date | 01 May 2014 |
| Pages | 299-300 |
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2014.0217 |
The Stair Society and Professor Robinson are to be congratulated on this volume which is a worthy addition to this prestigious series, all of the volumes of which are devoted to some aspect of Scottish legal history.
The editor has wisely decided to produce the original 1678 version, not just for the reason I have given, but because, as is clear from her valuable introduction, editing that version was a difficult and time-consuming exercise in itself. The result is, however, well worth the effort which she put in and we are the beneficiaries of her industry.
Professor Robinson provides an informative introduction dealing with Scotland in general from the Reformation to Mackenzie's time, with specific mention of the role of the Kirk (i.e. the Scottish Church), the legislature, and the courts, paying particular attention to their operation. This provides background information helping to put the publication in its historical context. There follows a brief biography of Mackenzie himself.
Prior to Mackenzie and Stair, there were some books on Scots Law, such as Balfour's
The task which has been undertaken by the editor was a challenge to which she has risen admirably. Not content with an introduction to the work which is valuable in its own right, she quite properly sought to identify Mackenzie's sources, in the cases cited by him and the numerous works to which he refers. Mackenzie founded the Advocates' Library in 1672 (it is now part of the National Library of Scotland). In so doing, he must have identified a need for books to be more readily available...
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