Customer Reviews

The Old Bailey: Eight Centuries of Crime, Cruelty and Corruption

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Injustice has marked the Development of British Criminal System, but reviewers of history need to "get past" the role of capital punishment in contributing to that history.... Generally, as all areas of the law become more refined, improved procedures and simply more advanced ways of administering justice similarly advance. There are only two drawbacks in the book; the first is an initial pounding criticism of capital punishment, a biasing filter through which each part of the book is unfortunately set into conformance. The second is a desire, at least on my part, for a complete set of footnotes and case cites. Far from a grisly or chamber-of-horrors treatment, and once the death penalty bias is filtered out, I have found the book to be an insightful look at the development of the British criminal justice system from beginnings which included graft, corruption, and an expectedly depraved jail system. The book illustrates the early benchmarks from which the British criminal justice system has progressed on its way toward greater due process, increased fairness and more humane imprisonment. Some unusual injustices and odd circumstances illustrate examples of how unusual exceptions can easily arise even from a system on its way to improvement, but especially where it began from a starting point of imperfection. Of particular interest was a chapter on the effect on the criminal justice system during World War II. I highly recommend the book for medium to light reading material. curt@patentlawyer.com