This book is concerned with the evolution of the modern criminal trial. It discusses the dynamics of the transformation that occurred during the first half of the nineteenth century and, in particular, the role of the Prisoners' Counsel Act 1836. This is the first scholarly work to analyse the practice of advocacy.

This book is concerned with the evolution of the modern criminal trial. During the first half of the nineteenth century, the criminal trial changed beyond recognition to attain its modern adversarial form. This innovative new book, the first of a new series, Oxford Studies in Modern Legal History, discusses the dynamics of this transformation and, in particular, the role of the Prisoners' Counsel Act 1836. The 1836 Act enabled defence counsel for the first time to address the jury in felony trials, and generated a unique debate in Parliament, the press and the legal professions on the merits and dangers of advocacy. This is the first scholarly work to analyse the practice of advocacy and will hold great appeal for all legal historians, scholars of social history and the history and theory of crime and punishment.

excellent book ... David Cairns' study of the early nineteenth-century criminal trial makes compelling reading. It is a thorough and highly readable piece of scholarship which convincingly calls for a realignment of our perspective on the critical historical steps which led to the emergence of English criminal adversarial procedure.