Principles of the Law of Evidence e-bog

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. In the fifth of the nine years which have elapsed since the publication of the eighth edition of this work the Criminal Evidence Act, 1898, received the Royal Assent. The Act had been led up to here by a long series of statutes (see p. 515), allowing accused persons to testify on their own behalf. Many British Colonies had passed general Acts to a similar effect, as also in earlier times had all the United States America; so that there has been no lack of light upon this branch of the law of evidence. It was thought better, however, to wait some little time after 1898 before coming forward with a new edition. The new Act has been carefully summarized and commented on in the 11th Chapter of the Second Part of the Third Book, and its text is printed in full in an Appendix.