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31 January 2008 / John Cooper KC
Issue: 7306 / Categories: Features
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Book Reviews

witness testimony:PSYCHOLOGICAL, INVESTIGATIVE AND EVIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVES
Edited by Anthony Heaton-Armstrong, Eric Shepherd, Gisli Gudjonsson and David Wolchover / Oxford University Press /
RRP £49.95 / 496 pages

The role of the criminal justice system must be to find the truth. Quite what that “truth” means has and continues to be the subject of much debate. Some confuse truth with proof.  An analysis of the law of evidence only takes us as far as establishing how much can be proven, but proof does not always equate to truth. A person will be acquitted if the prosecution has failed to prove the case but it does not follow that that acquittal contains within it the truth of what happened.

This book, edited by a team of eminent people in their fields, develops a unique analysis of the way our adversarial system works and guides the reader through a series of closely argued sections designed to produce clear, cogent, accurate and reliable evidence.

Beginning with psychological perspectives, a series of writers, principally the respected Gisli Gudjonsson, deal with

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft strengthens Scottish real estate capabilitywith partner appointment

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints Brendan Ryan as partner in Public Law Projects team

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers welcomes five new barristers

NEWS
Pro bono is celebrating a silver anniversary, with initiatives putting businesses and students at the heart of access to justice
Choosing the wrong expert can cost a clinical negligence claimant more than their case
Judges risk weakening their own independence by staying silent over government reforms, a leading public lawyer argues
A discount on damages does not automatically mean an equivalent haircut for legal costs in military deafness claims
Police powers targeting concealed identities at protests come with procedural conditions that could determine whether prosecutions succeed
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