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Analyses the recent, sweeping changes to Scottish criminal evidence law and its likely future
Scottish criminal evidence law has recently undergone various major, primarily reactive changes and there is more reform on the way. This book gathers leading experts in the field to analyse these changes, discern any patterns and ask what they mean for the future of Scottish criminal evidence law.
The areas affected include: police questioning of suspects; the treatment of vulnerable witnesses in court; hearsay; the admissibility of the accused's previous convictions; the Crown's duty of disclosure; and the need for corroboration. These ad hoc developments are fundamentally altering the basic principles of Scottish criminal evidence which have been in place since the 19th century. This volume explores this rapidly changing field, and considers the likely future direction of criminal evidence law reform.
Peter Duff is Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Aberdeen
Pamela Ferguson is Professor of Scots Law at the University of Dundee
List of contents
Table of Cases
Table of Legislation
Introduction
Peter Duff and Pamela Ferguson
1. Cadder and Beyond: Suspects' Rights and the Public InterestClaire McDiarmid
2. 'Access to Justice' For Complainers? The Pitfalls of the Scottish Government's Case to Abolish Corroboration
Ilona Cairns
3. The Relevance of Sexual History and Vulnerability in the Prosecution of Sexual Offences
Liz Campbell
and Sharon Cowan
4. Similar Fact Evidence And Moorov: Time for Rationalisation?
Fraser P. Davidson
5. Hearsay in Scots Law: Rethinking and Reforming
Gerry Maher QC
6. Eyewitness Identification Evidence And Its Problems: Recommendations for Change
Pamela R. Ferguson
7. Assessing Witness Credibility and Reliability: Engaging Experts and Disengaging Gage?
Donald Nicolson and Derek P. Auchie
8. The Process Of Criminal Evidence Law Reform In Scotland: What Can We Learn?
James Chalmers, Fiona Leverick and Shona W Stark
9. Scottish Criminal Evidence Law Adrift?
Peter Duff
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Peter Duff is Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Aberdeen School of Law. He is contributing author to: Victims in the Criminal Justice System, The Jury Under Attack, Criminal Injuries Compensation, Juries: A Hong Kong Perspective and Criminal Justice in Scotland. He has also published in the following journals: Juridical Review, Edinburgh Law Review, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Modern Law Review, Criminal Law Review, British Journal of Criminology, Scots Law Times. In 1999, he was appointed as one of the first members of the new Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates alleged miscarriages of justice, and was a Commissioner until 2007. He was also a member of the McInnes Committee on Summary Criminal Justice, which sat in 2002-2003.Pamela Ferguson is Professor of Scots Law at the University of Dundee. She is author of
Scottish Criminal Evidence Law (Edinburgh University Press, 2017 & 2019),
Scots Criminal Law, 2nd edition (EUP, 2014) and
Breach of the Peace (EUP, 2013).
Summary
This book gathers leading experts in the field to analyse the recent, major changes in Scots criminal evidence law. The areas affected include: police questioning of suspects, the treatment of vulnerable witnesses in court, hearsay, the admissibility of the accused s previous convictions, the Crown s duty of disclosure and corroboration.
