''Historia Placitorum Coronæ'' or ''The History of the Pleas of the Crown'' is an influential treatise on the
criminal law of England
English criminal law concerns offences, their prevention and the consequences, in England and Wales. Criminal conduct is considered to be a wrong against the whole of a community, rather than just the private individuals affected. The state, in ...
, written by
Sir Matthew Hale
Sir Matthew Hale (1 November 1609 – 25 December 1676) was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise ''Historia Placitorum Coronæ'', or ''The History of the Pleas of the Crown''.
Born to a barrister and ...
and published posthumously with notes by
Sollom Emlyn
Sollom Emlyn (27 December 1697 – 28 June 1754) was an Irish legal writer.
Life
Emlyn was the second son of Thomas Emlyn. He was born at Dublin, where his father was at the time settled, on 27 December 1697. He studied law, entered as a student ...
by E. and R. Nutt, and R. Gosling (the assigns of Edward Sayer), for F. Gyles, T. Woodward, and C. Davis in 1736.
Publication
The book was published despite an instruction in Hale's will that none of his manuscripts was to be printed after his death, unless he had ordered the publication during his lifetime. This was defended by Emlyn on the basis that it was a work of enormous importance; that he appeared to have revoked this instruction in a
codicil; and that, in any event, it was obvious that he had intended to publish it. He further observed that the order was the result of fear that the text would be altered or abridged.
Contents
The book is divided into two parts. The first part deals with
substantive law
Substantive law is the set of laws that governs how members of a society are to behave.Substantive Law vs. Procedural Law: Definitions and Differences, Study.com/ref> It is contrasted with procedural law, which is the set of procedures for making, ...
and the second part deals with procedure.
Authority and reception
Dallas CJ, upon referring to this work, is reported to have said: "With respect to Lord Hale, it is needless to remind those whom I am now addressing, of the general character for learning and legal knowledge of that person, of whom it was said, that what was not known by him was not known by any other person, who preceded or followed him; and that, what he knew, he knew better than any other person who preceded or followed him."
Sir J. F. Stephen, whose incisive criticisms of his predecessors' treatises did not err on the side of mercy,
[Winfield, Chief Sources of English Legal History, 1925, p 327] said: "It is not only of the highest authority, but shows a depth of thought and comprehensiveness of design which puts it in quite a different category from Coke's ''Institutes''. It is written on an excellent plan, and is far more of a treatise and far less of an index or mere work of practice than any book on the subject known to me".
[Stephen, History of the Criminal Law, vol 2, p 211] Stephen found, on the other hand, that it was marred by endless technicalities about principal and accessory,
benefit of clergy
In English law, the benefit of clergy ( Law Latin: ''privilegium clericale'') was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ec ...
, the precise interpretation of obscure phrases in statutes, and the law of procedure. But this criticism hardly takes into account the importance of these topics in Hale's time.
[
]
See also
*Books of authority
Books of authority is a term used by legal writers to refer to a number of early legal textbooks that are excepted from the rule that textbooks (and all books other than statute or law report) are not treated as authorities by the courts of England ...
References
Sources
*Percy Henry Winfield. The Chief Sources of English Legal History. 1925. Pages 254 an
326
to 328.
*Marvin. Legal Bibliography. 1847
Page 358
*Bishop. New Commentaries on the Criminal Law. 1892. Volume 1
Page 46
*5 The American Law Revie
629
*Owen Hood Phillips. "Hale and Hawkins". A First Book of English Law
Fourth Edition
1960. Page 200.
*Dubber. Foundational Texts in Modern Criminal Law. Page
62
to 64.
*Law Books in Action: Essays on the Anglo-American Legal Treatise
Pages 147
and 148.
*5 The London Magazin
562
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Historia Placitorum Coronae
1736 non-fiction books
1736 in law
English criminal law
Legal treatises
Books published posthumously