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those in Jervis' Act, 11 & 12 Vict. c. 43, with such alterations as to adapt them to the proceedings under these Acts.

As several of the Acts authorise the issuing of search warrants, I have added some observations as to the granting and form of such warrants, and have given forms for them and the informations necessary for obtaining them.

On the whole I trust that the Appendix may be found quite sufficient to guide any one in all the proceedings to which it applies, and that the forms there given may prove useful precedents to all who may resort to them for assist

ance.

When the last edition was published the Acts had not come into operation; they have now stood the test of a winter and spring Assize and two Quarter Sessions, and with the most perfect success. Not only has no point been reserved, but no point has even been taken upon them, in England, Scotland, or Ireland. This is indeed a triumphant result: and, although I was always perfectly satisfied that they would work admirably, still it is a great satisfaction to find that my anticipations have been so completely verified: and I shall now venture to saywhat I am confident is the truth—that these Acts are the very best Acts that ever were passed on the subjects to which they relate, and that they afford a greater protection to the lives, the homes, and the property of those of Her Majesty's subjects to whom they extend than ever existed before, and although they have cost me more labour, and caused me to be subjected to more annoyance than any one can imagine, yet it is a mighty consolation to think that they are now the law of the land, and that a very large proportion of those amendments in the Criminal Law, which I have for years laboured to effect, are now attained; nor can I help regretting that failing health has compelled me to decline any further participation in so good a work, especially at a time when the burthen of the

day is passed, the vantage ground is won, and there is every prospect of further success with comparatively little trouble. Still to have had the large share I have had in Lord Campbell's Acts for the better prevention of offences, 14 & 15 Vict. c. 19, and for the improving the administration of the Criminal Law, 14 & 15 Vict. c. 100, and above all in these Acts, is more than ordinarily falls to the lot of any one; and whilst I regret that more has not been done, I cannot help rejoicing that so much has been accomplished, and the more so, as it may afford an excellent precedent for future legislation of a similar kind.

When I wrote the remarks on the difficulty of assimilating the law of England and Ireland in the Introduction, post, xlii, I little thought that a proof of what I then said would be presented in so short a time. At this moment there is a Bill, introduced by the Government on the urgency of some persons in Ireland, for the express purpose of doing away with the assimilation of the law as to summary offences in the two countries, which was effected by these Acts in the last Session, and this too before it is possible for the working of the Acts to have had anything like a fair trial. Nothing can more strongly prove the correctness of the opinion of those who doubted as to the practicability of such an assimilation; and I cannot but express my deep regret that, after the assimilation has been so far carried, it should be attempted to be undone; and not only all the labour bestowed on effecting that object rendered fruitless, but a fresh impediment raised to the assimilation of the laws of the two countries, and I heartily hope that the House of Lords will throw out a bill, which, as far as I am able to judge, is not only not called for by any sufficient reason, but is pregnant with mischievous consequences for the future.

May 5, 1862.

C. S. GREAVES.

INTRODUCTION.

As I had the honour to be entrusted with the preparation of the 14 & 15 Vict. c. 19, "An Act for the better Prevention of Offences," and the 14 & 15 Vict. c. 100, An Act for the further improving the Administration of Criminal Justice," and watched those Acts step by step as they passed through Parliament, as well by attending the Committees of both Houses of Parliament upon them as otherwise, Lord Campbell, C. J., strongly urged me to publish them with notes, explaining the alterations in the law which were effected by them, and the reasons for those alterations; and accordingly I published a little work with that object; and well assured am I, that if Lord Campbell had survived the passing of the present Criminal Bills, he would have urged me to undertake a similar publication with respect to them. Impressed, therefore, with that conviction, and as a small tribute to the memory of Lord Campbell, I determined to publish these Acts. Strong as the reasons were, why I should publish the former work, there appear to be still stronger reasons why I should publish the present. Highly important as the former Acts were, still much more important are the present; one of the former related almost exclusively to procedure, six of the latter relate principally to the creation and punishment of offences; and their provisions extend over a very much larger portion of the Criminal Law, and embrace most of the offences which are of the commonest occurrence. Lastly, in the former Acts the pro› visions were all new; in the present, although the greater

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part of them is old, yet there are numerous new provisions and alterations, and these are in many cases so mixed up with the old enactments, that nothing but a comparison of the present with the former enactments can enable any one to discover what is new and what alterations have been made. It is obvious, therefore, that the present Acts call for such a publication as this much more strongly than the former.

Nor can it be doubted, that the duty to publish it falls peculiarly to my lot. No one has had the same, or indeed anything like the same, means of acquiring that information, which, if not absolutely necessary, is certainly very useful, for writing such a work. True it is, that by a very careful comparison of these Acts with the old Acts, both English and Irish, the alterations in the law may possibly be discovered and pointed out; but the reasons for those alterations must, in almost every instance, be the mere inferences drawn from the alterations themselves, when compared with the former enactments. When these Acts shall come into operation, nine years will have passed since I first was called upon to assist in the consolidation of the Criminal Law; and from that time down to their passing, whenever the matter has been taken in hand, whether by the different Ministries that have existed during that period, or by the Statute Law Commission, the labouring oar has fallen to my share, and though several other barristers have assisted in the work, yet their assistance has been for comparatively short periods, and generally as to part only of the present Acts. In fact, I alone have had the fortune to be engaged continuously with these Acts from their first beginning till they passed. Nor is it irrelevant to this point, that many of the amendments and alterations contained in them originated with myself.

Having then determined on such a publication, the next question was, what were to be the limits of the work. Now it appeared to me that these limits might well be determined by the reasons which led to its publication, and

accordingly I have confined myself, as a general rule, to pointing out the alterations in the law, and the reasons for them.

The course I have adopted is as follows:-The Acts have been accurately printed from the statutes themselves; and to each section a note is appended. If the enactment be old and unaltered, the note simply states the enactment or enactments from which that section is taken. In many cases the part of the enactment creating the offence has continued unaltered till the present time, whilst the part assigning the punishment has been altered, in some cases several times over, by subsequent Acts; in such cases, generally the original enactment creating the offence has alone been referred to, as it seemed clear that that can alone be of any use with reference to any question that may arise on the present Acts; for the various enactments as to the punishments could have thrown no light on these Acts, and to have enumerated each Act altering the punishments in the note to each section, would have added very considerably to the size of the work, without producing any corresponding advantage.

Where a clause is new, either in England or Ireland, this is pointed out.

Where a clause or part of a clause is altogether new, it is printed in italics, and the note explains the reason for it, unless indeed the reason be too plain to need any explanation. In some few instances mere verbal changes made for the sake of uniformity in the wording of a clause, without altering the sense, have not been printed in italics.

Where any part of any old enactment is omitted or transposed, the note points this out, and assigns the reason for it.

In a few instances where it has seemed that some doubt, which existed on some old enactment, might be removed, or some other useful object might be attained by deviating

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