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The Trial on Trial: Volume 3

The Trial on Trial: Volume 3 Towards a Normative Theory of the criminal Trial

Author: Antony Duff; Lindsay Farmer
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781841136981
Published In: November 2007
Format: Hardback , 352 pages
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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The criminal trial is under attack. Traditional principles have been challenged or eroded; in England and Wales the right to trial by jury has been restricted and rules concerning bad character evidence, double jeopardy and the right to silence have been substantially altered to 'rebalance' the system in favour of victims. In the pursuit of security, particularly from terrorism, the right to a fair trial has been denied to some altogether. In fact trials have for a long time been an infrequent occurrence, most criminal convictions being the consequence of a guilty plea.

Moreover, while this very public struggle over the future of the criminal trial is conducted, there is also a less publicly observed controversy about the significance of trials in modern society. Trials are under normative attack, their value being doubted by those who seek different kinds of processes - conciliatory or restorative - to address the needs of victims and move away from the imposition of state power through trials and punishments.

This book seeks to develop a normative theory of the criminal trial as a way of defending the importance of trials in our criminal justice system. The trial, it is suggested, calls defendants to answer a charge and, if they are criminally responsible, to account for their conduct. The trial is seen as a communicative process through which the defendant can challenge claims of wrongdoing made against him, including the norms in the light of which those claims are made.

The book develops this communicative theory by first making a careful study of the history of trials, before moving on to outline the theory, which is then developed through chapters looking at the practices and principles of trials, alternative regulatory models, the roles of participants, the relationship between investigation and trial and trials as public forums.

Antony Duff is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Stirling.
Lindsay Farmer is Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow.
Sandra Marshall is Professor of Philosophy in the University of Stirling.
Victor Tadros is a Professor of Law at the University of Warwick.

Overall, this book is an interesting opening salvo in what will undoubtedly be an emerging debate about the criminal trial as an entity.
Mark Coen
International Commentary on Evidence
Volume 5, Issue 2

This volume, as with the earlier two in the series, is the product of a major research project. It is a well-executed and accomplished work. Arguments are elaborate and carefully constructed...It is a rich source of insights, filled with ideas that have tremendous potential; if nothing else, readers are forced to reexamine conventional assumptions about the criminal trial. For achieving that alone, the authors are to be congratulated.
H L. Ho
International Commentary on Evidence
Volume 6, Issue 1, 2008

This is an excellent and provocative book, which should be read by everyone with an interest in criminal justice...an extremely important and welcome contribution to the literature on the criminal process.
Peter Duff
Edinburgh Law Review
Vol 13, 2009

The Trial on Trial is a fascinating, and at times provocative, account of the criminal trial. Although I have been critical of a number of the arguments it offers, it has made me think through my own understanding of the trial in a way no other scholarship has done. Even if frequently it does not convince, The Trial on Trial 's thought-provoking analysis of various aspects of criminal process means that it deserves to be read widely.
Mike Redmayne
New Criminal Law Review
Vol. 12, No. 2, Spring 2009