The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial [electronic resource].
Langbein, John H.
Oxford : Oxford University Press,
2005.
The adversary system of trial, the defining feature of the Anglo-American legal procedure, developed late in English legal history. For centuries defendants were forbidden to have legal counsel, and lawyers seldom appeared for the prosecution either. Trial was meant to be an occasion for the defendant to answer the charges in person.The transformation from lawyer-free to lawyer-dominated criminal trial happened within the space of about a century, from the 1690's to the 1780's. This book explains how the lawyers captured the trial. In addition to conventional legal sources, Professor Langbein 
Description based upon print version of record.
Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; List of Illustrations; List of Abbreviations; Introduction; A. Overview; B. Criminal and Civil Justice; 1. The Lawyer-Free Criminal Trial; A. The Altercation; B. The Rapidity of Trial; 1. No Plea Bargaining; 2. The Accused as an Informational Resource; 3. The Pace of Jury Deliberations; C. The Rule against Defense Counsel; 1. Court as Counsel; 2. The Standard of Proof; 3. The Accused's Advantage; 4. The Accused as an Informational Resource; 5. The Contrast with Misdemeanor; D. The Marian Pretrial; E. The "Accused Speaks" Trial
1. Pretrial Detention2. Restrictions on Defense Witnesses; 3. Excluding Defense Witnesses?; 4. The Burden of Proof Inchoate; 5. Trial as a Sentencing Proceeding; 6. The Clemency System; 7. No Privilege against Self-incrimination; F. The Plight of the Accused; 1. Unpreparedness as a Virtue; 2. The Historical Dimension; 2. The Treason Trials Act of 1696: The Advent of Defense Counsel; A. The Treason Trials of the Later Stuarts; 1. The Popish Plot; 2. Fitzharris and College; 3. The Rye House Plot; 4. The Bloody Assizes; 5. Addendum: The Seven Bishops; B. The Critique of the Treason Trials
1. Partiality of the Bench2. Restrictions on Pretrial Preparation; 3. Denial of Counsel; C. The Provisions of the Act; 1. The Preamble: Innocence and Equality; 2. Disclosure of the Indictment; 3. Assistance of Counsel in the Pretrial; 4. Trial Counsel; 5. Solicitors; 6. Defense Witnesses; D. The Restriction to Treason; 1. Prosecutorial Imbalance; 2. Judicial Bias; 3. Complexity of Treason; 4. No Systemic Consequences; 5. Evening Up; E. Of Aristocrats and Paupers: Treason's Legacy for Adversary Criminal Justice; 1. The Wealth Effect; 2. The Combat Effect
3. The Prosecutorial Origins of Defense CounselA. Prosecution Lawyers; 1. The Profession of Solicitor; 2. Prosecuting Solicitors; 3. Associations for the Prosecution of Felons; 4. "Newgate Solicitors"; B. Prosecution Perjury; 1. The Reward System; 2. Crown Witness Prosecutions; C. Making Forgery Felony; D. Defense Counsel Enters the Felony Trial; 1. Preserving the "Accused Speaks" Trial; 2. Evening Up; 3. The Juridical Basis; 4. The Law of Criminal Evidence; A. The View from the Sessions Papers; 1. The Skew to London; 2. Evolution of the Series; 3. Scope and Reliability; B. The Character Rule
1. Old Bailey Practice2. The Rebuttal Exception; 3. Delayed Application to Magistrates; C. The Corroboration Rule; 1. Exclusion or Mere Caution?; 2. Accomplice Exclusion; 3. Retrenching in Atwood and Robbins; D. The Confession Rule; 1. Crown Witness Confessions; 2. Warickshall and the Poison Tree; 3. Questioning the Policy; E. Unfinished Business: The Hearsay Rule; 1. "No Evidence"; 2. Counsel's Influence; 3. Cross-Examination as the Rationale; F. Groping for the Lever: Excluding Evidence; 5. From Altercation to Adversary Trial; A. Latency; B. Silencing the Accused
1. Production Burdens: The Prosecution Case
The adversary system of trial, the defining feature of the Anglo-American legal procedure, developed late in English legal history. For centuries defendants were forbidden to have legal counsel, and lawyers seldom appeared for the prosecution either. Trial was meant to be an occasion for the defendant to answer the charges in person.The transformation from lawyer-free to lawyer-dominated criminal trial happened within the space of about a century, from the 1690's to the 1780's. This book explains how the lawyers captured the trial. In addition to conventional legal sources, Professor Langbein 
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description based on print version record.
Adversary system (Law) -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Criminal procedure -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Defense (Criminal procedure) -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Evidence, Criminal -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Prosecution -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Trials -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Law - Great Britain
Law - Non-U.S.
Law, Politics & Government