J R Spencer

'... undoubtedly a first-rate companion for any undergraduate or post-graduate law course.’John Taggart, Criminal Law ReviewThis outstanding account of modern English criminal law combines detailed exposition and analysis of the law with a careful exploration of its theoretical underpinnings. Primarily, it is written for undergraduate students of criminal law, covering all subjects taught at undergraduate level.The book’s philosophical approach ensures students have a deeper understanding of the law that goes beyond a purely doctrinal knowledge As a result, over its numerous editions, it has become required reading for many criminal law courses. The 8th edition covers all statutory law including the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018 and Domestic Abuse Act, s 71. Case law discussions now cover: Grant (complicity); Barton (dishonesty); Broughton, Field, Kuddus, and Rebelo (homicide) and AG’s Ref (No 1 of 2020) (sexual offences).

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.

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 Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, the effects of which the Court of Appeal has interpreted in several leading cases. In this new edition, the commentary is revised to take account of these developments. As in the first edition, the commentary is preceded by chapters on the history of the hearsay rule, and the requirements of Article 6(3)(d) of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is followed by an appendix containing the text of the statutory provisions and a selection of the leading cases.