Allyson May chronicles the history of the English criminal trial and the development of a criminal bar in London between 1750 and 1850. She charts the transformation of the legal process and the evolution of professional standards of conduct for the criminal bar through an examination of the working lives of the Old Bailey barristers of the period. In describing the rise of adversarialism, May uncovers the motivations and interests of prosecutors, defendants, the bench, and the state, as well as the often-maligned "Old Bailey hacks" themselves. Traditionally, the English criminal trial consisted of a relatively unstructured altercation between the victim-prosecutor and the accused, who generally appeared without a lawyer. A criminal bar had emerged in London by the 1780s, and in 1836 the Prisoners' Counsel Act recognized the defendant's right to legal counsel in felony trials and lifted many restrictions on the activities of defense lawyers. May explores the role of barristers before and after the Prisoners' Counsel Act. She also details the careers of individual members of the bar--describing their civil practice in local, customary courts as well as their criminal practice--and the promotion of Old Bailey counsel to the bench of that court. A comprehensive biographical appendix augments this discussion.

Allyson May chronicles the history of the English criminal trial and the development of a criminal bar in London between 1750 and 1850. She charts the transformation of the legal process and the evolution of professional standards of conduct for the crimi

The dramatic and moving story of a Regency rake's descent into depravity and crime - via the exuberantly hedonistic and murky underworld of late Georgian England.

A new and controversial perspective on the causes, personalities and consequences of the most devastating urban riots in British history.

Adversary trial emerged in England in the 18th century. Its origins and significance had tended to go unrecognized by judges, lawyers, jurists, and researchers until relatively modern times. Even now, there is considerable dispute as to how and why adversary trial came into existence, and little connection has been made with the fact that its existence contributed to the genesis of a the modern doctrine of human rights, whereby citizens are able to make a stand against the power of the state or vested interest. Fighting for Justice focuses on the birth and meaning of adversary trial, including the key role of Sir William Garrow. The book assesses how deep-rooted is the notion of opposing parties in the common law and the English psyche generally, and that of countries such as the US that have followed the same pattern whereby legal representatives champion the cause of individuals. The book touches on moves through restorative justice around the world, to alter adversarial systems in favor of a less conflict based approach. Because justice and the rule of law are frequently nowadays under attack, Fighting for Justice will be a valuable aid to understanding the contributions that have been made to the overall development of criminal justice and common law systems.

This edited volume examines the performance and role of scientific experts in modern European courts of law and police investigations. It discusses cases from criminal, civil and international law to parse the impact of forensic evidence and expertise in different European countries. The contributors show how modern forensic science and technology are inextricably entangled with political ideology, gender norms and changes in the law and legal systems. Discussing fascinating case studies, they highlight how the ideology of authoritarian and liberal regimes has affected the practical enactment of forensic expertise. They also emphasise the influence of images of masculinity and femininity on the performance of experts and on their assessment of evidence, victims and perpetrators. This book is an important contribution to our knowledge of modern European forensic practices.

Contemporary studies have concluded that women are far less likely to kill than men and that when women do kill, they do so within the family. Debauched, Desperate, Deranged: Women Who Killed, London 1674-1913 examines the evolution of this pattern in the over 1400 trials in which women were prosecuted for homicide in London from the late seventeenth century until just before the First World War. Which deaths were considered homicides and in what circumstances women were culpable illustrates profound changes in the prevailing assumptions about women. The outcomes of trials and the portrayals of these women in the press illuminate changes in perceptions of women's status and their physical and mental limitations. Debauched, Desperate, Deranged breaks new ground in existing studies of gender and homicide, using a long time frame to discern which trends are brief anomalies and which represent significant change or continuity. Debauched, Desperate, Deranged is the first empirical, quantitatively as well as qualitatively based study of women and homicide from the seventeenth century to the twentieth. It presents new and significant conclusions on changing incidence of maternal homicides and the remarkable constancy of spousal homicides.

This book applies three overlapping bodies of work to generate fresh approaches to the study of criminal justice in England and Ireland between 1660 and 1850. First, crime and justice are interpreted as elements of the "public sphere" of opinion about government. Second, "performativity" and speech act theory are considered in the context of the Anglo-Irish criminal trial, which was transformed over the course of this period from an unmediated exchange between victim and accused to a fully lawyerized performance. Thirdly, the authors apply recent scholarship on the history of emotions, particularly relating to the constitution of "emotional communities" and changes in "emotional regimes".

The Manitoba Law Journal is a peer-reviewed journal founded in 1961. The MLJ's current mission is to provide lively, independent and high caliber commentary on legal events in Manitoba or events of special interest to our community. This issue has articles from a variety of contributing authors including: Beverley McLachlin, Brenlee Carrington Trepel, Bryan P. Schwartz, Darcy L. MacPherson, David Milward, Debra Parkes, Edward D. Brown, Gerald P. Heckman, Greg T. Smith, Jean-Pierre Hachey, John Irvine, Keith Lenton, Mark C. Power, Mathieu Stanton, Melanie R. Bueckert, Michel Bastarache, and Soren Frederiksen.

Crime, Policing and Punishment in England, 1660-1914 offers an overview of the changing nature of crime and its punishment from the Restoration to World War 1. It charts how prosecution and punishment have changed from the early modern to the modern period and reflects on how the changing nature of English society has affected these processes. By combining extensive primary material alongside a thorough analysis of historiography this text offers an invaluable resource to students and academics alike. The book is arranged in two sections: the first looks at the evolution and development of the criminal justice system and the emergence of the legal profession, and examines the media's relationship with crime. Section two examines key themes in the history of crime, covering the emergence of professional policing, the move from physical punishment to incarceration and the importance of gender and youth. Finally, the book draws together these themes and considers how the Criminal Justice System has developed to suit the changing nature of the British state.