Book reviews
Essential to the motoring lawyers’ arsenal
T
he Road Traffic
Offences
Handbook by
Kenneth Carr, Frank
Lockhart and Patrick
Musters is a welcome
addition to the motoring
lawyer’s arsenal. It
is well researched,
clearly presented and
is published at a time
when, despite the
financial squeeze, clients do not seem to be any less
determined to challenge road traffic cases.
What this book is not is a detailed and
analytical work that can be relied upon to prepare
submissions of law. However, it is a useful guide,
which provides an insight into a broad range of
the most common road traffic offences. The word
‘handbook’ is key and the authors are quick to
acknowledge its role is precisely that: something
for the busy practitioner to use at court, or in the
office, when key facts and fundamental principles
need to be accessed quickly.
The first chapter deals with procedure and will
be very useful for those at the earlier stages of their
career, as well as those who just feel a bit rusty. As
with the rest of the work, the philosophy is very
simple: comprehensive and practical guidance. If
you had never set foot in a court before reading
this chapter, I really feel you would be able to
hold your own after reading it. The appendices
contain important data in tables, including the
Magistrates Association Sentencing Guidelines and
are extremely informative.
The bulk of the book’s content deals with the
array of specific offences across 16 chapters – one
for each offence or class of offences. Within each
chapter, the sections and subsections take the
reader through all the vital material, which can be
digested quickly.
I can think of situations where I know I would
find this handbook really useful. Most individual
practitioners, or law firms, should be able to justify
its purchase on the basis of undertaking just a
handful of road traffic cases every year.
As every advocate knows, there is nothing to
substitute thorough preparation, and it is obvious
that a lot of thought and hard work has gone into
the research. In some ways it is more challenging
a task to prepare a book like this than a work
like Wilkinson’s, and the authors have done
well to distil the mass of material into a handy
paperback.
One observation, and it is not a criticism, is that
lawyers using this book will need to get a good
feel for where and when using this book stops and
using a more detailed text starts, but this should
become instinctive fairly quickly.
Finally, you need never worry again about how
many penalty points you can get for ‘refusing to
submit to an eyesight test’ or for ‘unlawful pillion
riding’ - proof of just how comprehensive the Road
Traffic Offences Handbook is.
Review by Oliver Mishcon, barrister specialising
in road traffic law at 4 Kings Bench Walk
chambers in London.
Road Traffic Offences Handbook, by Carr,
Lockhart and Musters, The Law Society (2008),
pp 299, ISBN: 978-1-85328-918-7, £44.95
Step-by-step guide that gallops through history
T
he authors
of Inquests: a
practitioner’s
guide have updated an
excellent practical guide
for practitioners.
The Coroners Act 1988
requires that an inquest
must be held if a person
has died ‘a violent or unnatural death’ or ‘a sudden
death of which the cause is unknown’. The
hearing is confined to ‘who’, ‘how’, ‘where’ and
‘when’. The traditional approach of the system
has come under severe criticism from families of
the deceased who have sought wider answers and
demanded greater disclosure of information.
The European Convention on Human Rights,
given domestic effect by the Human Rights
Act 1998, changed coroner’s inquests beyond
recognition. The ‘how’ question in article 2 inquests
is now to be interpreted as ‘by what means’ and
‘in what circumstances’. In such inquests the
proceedings now approach a fair process.
What the practitioner finds bewildering
Independent Lawyer l December/January 2009
with the law and procedure in inquests is the
burgeoning case law.
The authors of this guide have arranged the
contents with admirable clarity and the case law
is woven into the text in such a way as to make
the subject matter lucid. The book provides a
fascinating gallop through history to explain the
ancient office of the coroner and outlines various
committees and inquiries in to the coronial system.
This is a practitioner’s guide and as such it
details the relevant statutes, statutory instruments
and sample letters to request exceptional funding
from the Legal Services Commission and to deal
with various pre-inquest procedural requirements.
The chapter on funding is cogent and contains
up to date material to advise the next of kin
effectively. This chapter alone justifies the cost of
buying the book.
There is a practical step-by-step guide on preinquest hearings and the substantive hearing.
A standard checklist is helpfully provided to
enable the less experienced advocate to deal with
the first day in court. There are clear and useful
hints on dealing with the lay and expert witness.
The authors have drawn on their significant
personal experiences to guide the lawyer through
difficulties about exhibits, closing speeches and
the summing-up. A substantial chapter deals with
the issue of the jury.
The authors have taken a great deal of care to
explain inquests and the European Convention
on Human Rights and controversial deaths
arising out of deaths in police and prison custody.
The post-inquest remedies are dealt with
adequately, but the subject is lacking in detail and
some may find that they have to look elsewhere
to advise clients.
Apart from that minor criticism, this book is a
valuable source of information and knowledge in
this complicated area of the law.
Review by Girish Thanki, partner at TNT
Solicitors, London who represented families in
the The Deepcut and The Hercules inquests.
Inquests: a practitioner’s guide, second edition,
by Thomas, Straw and Friedman, LAG (2008),
pp 736, ISBN: 978 1 903307 57 1, £48
49