STONES JUSTICE
MANUAL 2007 edited by Paul Carr and Adrian Turner
REVIEWED
BY
SALLY
RAMAGE
Stone's Justice's Manual is a set of 5 electronic
law textbooks that are also produced by
LexisNexis in hardcover.
I must mention
the case R (on the application of Charlson) v Guildford Magistrates’ Court and
others [2006] EWHC 2318 (Admin) (causing death by dangerous driving), a case in which the decision challenged the
accuracy of Stones’ Justice Manual on its content as to the issuing of a
summons for a private prosecution. Silber J.said, “..the issue as set out in Stones Justices’ Manual and in Archbold
Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice is inaccurate or misleading.” Note that the Silber.J. referred to Stones’
Justice Manual 2006 and 2005 at vol 1,
p51 (para 1-422).
Stones’ 2005, vol 1, p 51,(oara 1-422)
states: “ While there is no rule that a justice should never issue a summons
for a private prosecution when the Crown Prosecution Service has already laid
information in respect of the same matter, it will only be in special
circumstances , such as apparent bad faith on the part of the Crown Prosecutor,
that the issuing of a summons for a private prosecution will be justified.”
The fact is that private prosecutors are
not bound to apply the Code for Crown Prosecutors when deciding whether to
issue proceedings nor do the courts apply the evidential sufficiency test in
the case of private prosecutions.
In respect of the above, Stones
Justices’ Manual 2007 states correctly:
“Where a magistrate is
considering whether to accede to issue a summons for a private prosecution,
where the Crown Prosecution Service has already brought and discontinued a prosecution arising from the same events,
the magistrate should not require special circumstances before agreeing to the
issue of the summons. …….In the different situation where a magistrate is
considering whether to accede to an application to issue a summons for a
private prosecution, where the Crown Prosecution Service has already brought a
prosecution and this is still
proceeding, the magistrate should …be slow to issue a summons in respect
of the same matter.”
This is the correct law on the
matter. The matter raises the publisher’s disclaimer and confirms that the user
must not implicitly rely on secondary information.
There are numerous other cases
which site positively and authoritatively, the information in Stones Justices’
Manual, two such cases being-
R (on the application of
Stones 2007 edition comprisesa hard cover copy plus a CD-ROM, and this respected reference
service includes up-to-date law topics.
Some such topics are as follows:
Police and Justice Act 2006 - Persons designated as community support officers will have standard
powers and duties with the addition of any further powers conferred on them by
a Chief Constable;
The Companies Act 2006,- which Stones’ describes as “the mother of all Acts”, because of its length.
The Childcare Act 2006-
which Stones states as imposing duties on local authorities
with regard to the well-being of young children In child-care matters in the Family Courts. ‘Stones’ is the
authoritative reference work on Magistrates Courts law, practice and procedure,
on both criminal and civil matters. It addresses matrimonial issues, finance
and adoptions; and it is invaluable for reference in issues relating to the
protection of children in criminal proceedings,
special provisions for evidence, youth offences, sentencing, practice points
and youth justice provisions. Stones’ provides a
one-stop-shop for reliable and current
coverage of the legislative changes affecting magistrates’ courts.