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Noted, but not Invariably Approved
John Spencer has worked at Cambridge University for over 40 years. He has lectured, supervised – and entertained – students in tort, contract, crime, medical law and criminal procedure and evidence. This book is a tribute to Professor Spencer, but it is different from the usual tribute in that it contains case notes written and selected by the author himself and all published in the Cambridge Law Journal (CLJ) between 1970 and 2013. With the exception of one note, which is somewhat longer, the articles are taken from the case note section of the CLJ which, until fairly recently, imposed a strict word limit of 1000 words and no more (the complexity of the cases and the prolixity of the judges led to the CLJ relaxing this rule to 1500 words). The case notes reproduced here provide a master-class in the writing of incisive, engaging notes. Written with students in mind but also intended for the consumption and edification of a wider audience, these case notes epitomise the way in which Professor Spencer has, for 43 years, cajoled, lambasted and encouraged the judiciary to see things his way.
Evidence of Bad Character
This is the second edition of John Spencer's now well established book which seeks to explain this complex area of law for the benefit of members of judges, criminal practitioners and academics teaching the law of evidence. In the past, the rule excluding evidence of the defendant's general bad character and disposition to commit the offence was sometimes described as one of the most hallowed rules of evidence; Lord Sankey, in Maxwell v DPP, referred to it as '...one of the most deeply rooted and jealously guarded principles of our criminal law.' In reality it was not particularly ancient, and in recent years was increasingly attacked. On technical grounds the body of law surrounding it was ...
Hearsay Evidence in Criminal Proceedings
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 re-wrote the hearsay evidence rule for the purpose of criminal proceedings, enacting the recommendations of the Law Commission together with some proposals from the Auld Review. In 2008, Professor Spencer wrote a book explaining the new law, intended for practitioners as well as academics. Following the style of his earlier book about the new law on bad character evidence, the core of the hearsay book was a section-by-section commentary on the relevant provisions of the Act, discussing the case law that had interpreted them. Since the appearance of the first edition, the new law on hearsay evidence has been the subject of a spectacular exchange between the UK Su...
The Emerging Spatial Mind
How does the spatial mind develop? In this book, Jodie Plumert and John Spencer bring together the leading researchers from the field of spatial cognitive development to examine how the spatial mind emerges from its humble origins in infancy and becomes its mature, flexible, and skilled adult form. The work presented sheds light on how the emerging spatial mind is fostered and shaped over time by our experiences of thinking about and interacting in the space around us. Each chapter presents cutting-edge research and theory that addresses the two pivotal questions of what changes in the spatial mind, and how these changes come about. The authors provide both conceptual and formal theoretical accounts of developmental process at multiple levels of analysis--genes, neurons, behaviors, social interactions--creating a contemporary overview of the general mechanisms of cognitive change. Commentary chapters show how the developmental advances discussed in these accounts fit into our understanding of not only spatial cognitive development, but also spatial cognition more generally.
European Criminal Procedures
Revised by Elena Ricci
Children and Cross-Examination
In 2009, Stephen Barker was convicted of rape on the evidence of a little girl who was four-and-a-half years old at the trial, and about three-and-a-half when first interviewed by the police. The high point of the proceedings was the child's appearance as a live witness in order for Barker's counsel to attempt a cross-examination. This case focused attention on the need, imposed by current English law, for even tiny children to come to court for a live cross-examination. In 1989, the Pigot Committee proposed a scheme under which the whole of a young child's evidence, including cross-examination, would be obtained out of court and in advance of trial. In 1999 a provision designed to give effect to this was included in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act, but it has not yet been brought into force. The full Pigot proposal was implemented, however, in Western Australia, and similar schemes operate in a number of European jurisdictions. This book of essays examines a number of these schemes, and argues the case for further reforms in the UK.
