Evidence and the Adversarial Process: The Modern Law - Softcover

Mcewan, Jenny

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0631183167 ISBN 13: 9780631183167

Publisher: Wiley–Blackwell, 1992

Synopsis

Evidence and the Adversarial Process , an important new text, reflects the latest views and research on evidence and the adversarial process, and identifies new directions and procedures which are bringing the English trial closer to the continental model. The book both reviews the modern law and challenges traditional assumptions; the theory of the trial is measured against the reality.

About this title

About the Author

Jenny McEwan has taught law at the Universities of Manchester and Keele. She specializes in criminal law and the Law of Evidence, and has published extensively on evidence. She teaches crown prosecutors on behalf of the Home Office training branch.

From the Back Cover

Evidence and the Adversarial Process looks closely a the relationship between the adversarial trial, which reflects the ′sporting′ theory of justice, and the Law of Evidence. Born from a distrust of judges, the adversarial trial has created an unwieldy and almost incomprehensible edifice of exclusionary rules and the exceptions to them. The author points out that there it is no coincidence non–adversarial systems of justice have few, if any exclusionary rules. Clearly written and argued this book examines the key issues in the field:

∗ Is the adversarial process best suited to the discovery of truth?.

∗ Do recent reforms indicate the first steps away from the adversarial contest?.

∗ Is English law moving towards new inquisitorial procedures and a closer relationship with the continental model?

The book both reviews the modern law and challenges the traditional assumptions embedded in case law; the theory of the trial is measured against the reality. It will be an invaluable text for students, but also a significant addition to the literature for criminal and defence lawyers by allowing a better assessment of the rules set out in the standard texts and by challenging advocates to look again at the forensic devices, such as cross–examination, which presently claim to uncover the truth in adversarial proceedings.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley–Blackwell
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0631183167
• ISBN 13: 9780631183167
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336