Why Not an English Criminal Code?
| Author | W. O. Gay |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4401700212 |
| Published date | 01 April 1944 |
| Date | 01 April 1944 |
WHY
NOT
AN
ENGLISH
CRIMINAL
CODE?
147
potential ally. Moreover, he will describe his treatment to his friends,
so that his reactions will become diffused.
Thus
is the fabric of
public opinion woven.
The
police, of course,can only function with the accord of
the
public.
That
the authorities appreciate this cardinal
truth
is evi-
denced by the following quotation from Sir
John
Moylan's Scotland
Yard:
"In
the years 1926-28 it was necessary tohave several inquests
into Metropolitan police matters. .
..
Underlying
them
all was
perhaps something in the nature of a generalquestioning of police
methods and an idea
that
the
relations of police andpublic were not
as cordial as theyused to
be."
To
take for granted thegoodwill of the public would be
folly:
rather is it something to be continually merited.
It
is a heritage
bequeathed by policemen of the past,
not
to be
put
in jeopardy through
any faultof policemen of to-day. Having on occasions to enforce
an unpopular law and having to perform agreat many restrictive
duties inevitably entail the loss of a measure of popularity.
This
can be largelyoffset by a manifest readiness to helpthe public in
extraneous matters as far as iscompatible with the efficient discharge
of specified police duties.
In
short, by remembering
that
besides
being aservant of HisMajesty apoliceman is also, within reason, the
servant of His Majesty's humblest subject.
Why
Not
anEnglishCriminal Code?
"Thelaw of Englandisnotoriously formless toadegree unparalleled
in Europe.v-c-Taojaas
ERSKINE
HOLLAND
(1835-1926).
"
0,
reform it altogether."-Hamlet, Act
III,
Sc.
2.
PEACE, advancement, and reform are much discussed at the present
time, andit remains to be seen whether Barlow, Beveridge, Scott,
Uthwatt
and others will be knownto future generations as names
inscribed on monuments erected to mark
the
resting-place of dead
endeavours, or on milestones along the roadof social progress.
In
view
of the senseof change
that
pervades contemporary affairs it would
seem an appropriate time torevive fordiscussion and positiveaction a
matter
that
was the subject of manyreports before the authors of those
named above were
born;
amatter
that
should be of interest and concern
to all policemen in England,
not
merely becauseit has engaged the
attention of eminent men at variousperiods of
our
history (and during
the last century anda half in particular),
but
because,
if
given practical
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