26
The Green Bag
Bankruptcy. "The Law of Bankruptcy." By Lex. 37 Laic Magazine and Review 17 (Nov.). "In one respect I think the present law is un duly hard on a fraudulent bankrupt. He is bound to answer all questions put to him relating to his dealings with his creditors or his estate, and may be imprisoned for contempt of court if he refuses to do so. But it is not very unusual to find in this way that he has committed a crimi nal offense; and the answers which he has given under compulsion may be used against him on a prosecution which is sometimes directed or sug gested by the judge. It should, I think, be pro vided that his answers to questions put to him in court should not be used against him on a criminal trial — except, of course, a trial for perjury, based on the allegation that the answer in queston was wilfully and materially untrue. This would leave all other grounds for prosecu tion open, but exclude his own admissions of the offense in answer to questions which the court compelled him to answer." Codification. "The Codification of Inter national Law." By Ernest Nys. American Journal of International Law, v. 5, p. 871 (Oct.). This article reviews the history of the move ment for the codification of international law. The advance of this idea has been particularly rapid in the past few decades. The difficulties of the task are recognized. But there is no risk of rigidity or stagnation, with judicial action playing the part which should be given to it, and with periodical conferences on set occasions. See Partnership. Constitutional Law. See Government, etc. Conveyancing. See Torrens System. Criminal Insanity. "Insanity and Crimi nal Responsibility." Report of Committee B of the Institute, Edwin R. Keedy, chairman. 2 Journal of Crim. L. and Criminology 521 (Nov.) Summary of the Committee's recommendations which are set forth with an instructive discussion : "(1) That the legal tests of insanity for deter mining criminal responsibility be abolished. "(2) That insamty should be held to be a good defense, whenever it negatives the neces sary criminal intent. "(3) That the various medical associations shall establish and maintain a code of professional ethics to govern medical experts. "(4) That the various bar associations shall establish and maintain a code of professional ethics to govern counsel in criminal trials, where the defense of insanity is raised. "(5) That medical witnesses who give opinion evidence in criminal cases, where the defense is insanity, shall be chosen from a qualified group. "(6) That the respective functions of medical expert, judge, and jury shall be as set forth in this report. Criminal Law. See Criminal Insanity, Criminology. Criminal Law Enforcement. "Lynching and the Miscarriage of Justice." By Theodore Roosevelt. Outlook, v. 99, p. 706 (Nov. 25).
"Slowness in deciding cases, readiness to admit appeals, the subordination of justice to legal technicalities, the irritating delays in getting the machinery of the law in motion, and the utterly improper attention paid by the courts to the sharpness of lawyers in invoking technicalities — all of these result in frequent miscarriages of jus tice and as delays which, if long enough, amount, especially in their effect upon the public, to an absolute miscarriage of justice. When such is the case, the community is deliberately preparing itself for the violence of mob action if ever a crime is committed that arouses the utmost in tensity of furious passion." Criminal Procedure. "Some Character istics of English Criminal Law and Procedure." By G. Glover Alexander. 37 Law Magazine and Review 1 (Nov.). "It is very curious to notice how the old pre judice against what used to be called 'circum stantial evidence' has now almost completely died out. It was never anything but a dyslogis tic expression, an advocate's mode of speaking contemptuously of his opponent's case. All evi dence which is not direct and positive is circum stantial. In ninety per cent of the cases which come before the criminal courts nothing but cir cumstantial evidence is possible; and if it were not admitted most crimes would go unpunished." See Criminal Insanity, Criminology, Legal History. Criminal Statistics. "Criminal Statistics in the United States. Report of Committee of the Institute, John Koren, chairman." 2 Jour nal of Criminal Law and Criminology 568 (Nov.). "The Committee believes it would be a dis tinct gain if knowledge could be obtained of the amount of the Undetected Crime. For general statistical purposes, our main reliance must al ways be upon the returns from the criminal courts, but these as well as police statistics would gain in significance when examined in the light of facts about the undetected crime. It is most improb able that reliable information about the amount of undetected crime can be obtained until legisla tion compels the proper officials to make returns to some central office." Criminology. "Assassins of Rulers." By Arthur MacDonald. 2 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 505 (Nov.). Interesting as a study of the character of noted American assassins, including those of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. "We have pointed out some of the physical anomalies of American assassins, with little com ment, for the reason that conclusions drawn from physical defects as to mental and moral character are untrustworthy. Knowledge of exact rela tions between body and mind is as yet very inade quate. While it is true that mentally defective persons, as a class, have more physical anomalies than people in general, it is not always true of particular individuals of this class. Physical anomalies are more serious in proportion as they are more profound and more numerous, but
