About the Book
Since the middle of the last century the English law of evidence has presented a patchwork appearance. From time to time ancient common law rules have been supplemented or, in some cases, replaced by statutory provisions. The development of the law has, however, been pragmatic and unsystematic, leading to many calls for more principled and comprehensive treatment by the legislature. In recent years Parliament has begun to heed these calls with the result that the statutory elements of the subject have increased markedly in ambition and quantity. This book is designed to meet a need of teachers and students of evidence for an up-to-date collection of the legislation in a convenient form. It presents a selection of the relevant statutes, arranged chronologically for ease of reference, together with accompanying rules of court. Inevitably the selection is to some extent a personal one, but the author has tried to reflect what he believes to be general trends in the teaching of evidence.
Thus the scheme established by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 for the obtaining and use of evidence in criminal cases is treated in full, with the additional inclusion of all five of the Codes of Practice issued under the Act. On the other hand, the numerous statutory provisions commonly grouped under the heading "Documentary Evidence" have been largely omitted. They are rarely studied in detail on evidence courses, and the space is better allocated to significant and potentially far-reaching developments such as the powers given by the Criminal Justice Act 1987 to the Director of the Serious Fraud Office and the judges of the Crown Court.
Table of Contents:
Part 1 Statutes: Evidence Act 1851, ss 2,3; Evidence Amendment Act 1853, ss. 1,2; Criminal Procedure Act 1865, ss 1,3-8; Bankers' Books Evidence Act 1879, ss 3-7, 9, 10; Criminal Evidence Act 1898, ss 1, 2; Perjury Act 1911, s 13; Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921, ss 1, 2; Criminal Justice Act 1925, s 13(3); Children and Young Persons Act 1933, s 38; Evidence Act 1938, ss 1-4, 6; Representation of the People Act 1949, s 146(5); Sexual Offences Act 1956, s 2; Affiliation Proceedings Act 1957, ss 4(1), 8(2); Criminal Justice Act 1967, ss 8-11; Civil Evidence Act 1968, ss 1-14, 16-18; Family Law Reform Act 1969, ss 20-26; Civil Evidence Act 1972, ss 1-5; Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976, ss 2, 3, 7(2); Oaths Act 1978, ss 1, 3-6; Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, ss 101, 102 (1)-(7), 103; Criminal Attempts Act 1981, s 2(1)(2)(g); Contempt of Court Act 1981, s 10; Supreme Court Act 1981, s 72; Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, s 89(1)(2); Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, ss 1-3, 8-19, 32, 54, 55(1)-(13)(17), 56-58, 60-67, 69-82, 116-118, Scheds 1, 3, Parts II III, 5; Criminal Justice Act 1987, ss 1(1)-(5), 2, 3, 7-10; Criminal Justice Act 1988, ss 23-34, Sched. 2. Part 2 Rules of court: rules of the Supreme Court, Ord 24, Ord 27, Ord 38, rr 1-13, 20-31, 34-39, 41-44; the crown court (advance notice of expert evidence); rules 1987. Part 3 Police and criminal evidence 1984 - codes of practice: code of practice A for the exercise by police; officiers of statutory powers of stop and search; code of practice B for the searching of premises by police officers and the seizure of property found by police officers on persons or premises; code of practice C for the detention, treatment and questioning of persons by police officers; code of practice D for the identification of persons by police officers; code of practice E on tape recording.
