The Modern Approach to Criminal Law
Collected Essays :Author: L. Radzinowicz, J. W. C. Turner et alia. Preface by Professor P. H. Winfield. MacMillan & Co. 1945. Pp.511. Price 21s.
This volume is published under the auspices of the Department of Criminal Science of the Faculty of Law in the University of Cambridge, and is an outstanding contribution to the well known series of English Studies issued by the Department. The essays elucidate some of the leading principles of criminal law and indicate the main lines upon which the penal system in this country has developed. They also illustrate the importance of comparative studies in criminal law.
The volume is divided into four parts. The first contains a reprint of an essay on the Italian Theory of Crime and is a contribution to the work of Lombroso by the late Professor C. S. Kenny of Cambridge University. Although the essay was written about thirty-five years ago it forms a fitting introduction to the volume, as it is a tribute to its distinguished author and to his subject, and is also a link between the past and the present outlook on Crime and Criminals. Dr. Radzinowicz and Mr. Turner follow with an essay on the meaning and scope of Criminal Science, and introduce its three branches, Criminology, Criminal Policy and Criminal Law, with the precision and lucidity we are accustomed to expect from the authors.
The second part of the book is concerned with problems of criminal science and penal administration. The essays deal with Present Trends of English Criminal Policy by L. Radzinowicz; Punishment: (1) An Outline of Developments since the 18th century by L. Radzino* wicz and J. W. C. Turner. (2) The English Law of Punishment by R. A. Wortley; Public Mischief by W. T. S. Stallybrass; Police Search, by E. C. S. Wade; Jury Trial To-day by R. M. Jackson; The Assessment of Punishments by English Courts by L. Radzinowicz, with further essays by the same contributor on the English Prison System, The After Conduct of Discharged Offenders, The Persistent Offender, and a Critical Analysis of Criminal Statistics. The scope of this review precludes any detailed acknowledgment of the material dealt with in this important section. It may be noted, however, that Dr Jackson in Jury Trial To-day states that: ” A judge does not always ‘ gain experience ‘ on the problems of facts; he increases his self-assurance and his self-confidence.” Again, ” Admittedly a jury is not a perfect method (of trial), but a random selection from the public at large is surely better than relying upon a select group such as the judges.” It may be added that elsewhere the reviewer has called attention to the fact that whereas medical men endeavour to check the accuracy of their diagnoses, and the effects of treatment on their patients, by follow up studies, the legal profession does not seem to have devised any comparable method whereby judges can appraise the results of the sentences passed upon offenders who come before them.
Part three contains essays by J. W. C. Turner on The Mental Element In Crimes At Common Law, Attempts to Commit Crimes, Assault at Common Law, and Two Cases of Larceny; R. M. Jackson writes on Absolute Prohibition In Statutory Offences, and on Common Law Misdemeanours. D. Seaborne Davies discusses Child Killing in English Law. The essay on The Mental Element In Crimes at Common Law may perhaps most interest the medical and lay reader. Mr. Turner shows that as time passed the idea developed, probably under ecclesiastical influence, that the infliction of punishment for crime was necessary, and that liability to punishment should depend upon moral guilt. In course of time the moral test has been giving way to one which bases the liability of the defendant on his foresight of the consequences of his action. A brief consideration of abnormal mental conditions under the heads of insanity, infancy, and provocation is followed by discussions on manslaughter and murder. Of this section of the book Professor Winfleld writes: ” Here, Mr. Turner, Dr Jackson and Mr. Seaborne Davies have illuminated regions of the law that have been somewhat obscured by doubts or inconsistent interpretations.” The reviewer may add that the essays are presented so clearly that the lay reader can follow them with interest and understanding.
The fourth and last part of the book is made up of two articles on criminal science from the comparative point of view. Dr Stallybrass compares The General Principles of Criminal Law in England with the Italian ” Progetto Nuovo “, and Dr Radzinowicz discusses International Collaboration in Criminal Science. Here again one may quote from the Preface: ” The value of scientific comparison of various systems of law is that, where the systems reveal a practical identity of particular rules, this may be the foundation of international unification of at least some parts of that branch of the law; and where, as frequently happens, there are points of difference or even of direct conflict, they may quite well be instructive as throwing light on the national characteristics of the particular States concerned.” It is to be understood that the essays are written primarily for the use of teachers and students of criminal law in English-speaking countries. But all those who are concerned with the administration of criminal justice, and who are in direct or indirect association with the problems concerning crime and criminals should have this valuable book at hand. They will often turn to it for instruction and will seldom fail in their quest. W.N.E.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.