"Really I wish I was more acquainted than I am, with the course of criminal jurisdiction—if the question had never been decided, I should have extreme doubts upon it, and those extreme doubts which I should have would lead me in a criminal case to do otherwise than I should do in a civil case—in every civil case [I speak in the hearing of a great many professional gentlemen] wherever I have serious doubts, I follow the doctrine which I have collected to be laid down by Lord Hardwicke; I receive the evidence, giving the jury the best instruction I can upon the effect of it; and I do it in the case of civil proceedings, without running the risk of doing any hurt, because if I receive it improperly, a season will come when the Court can correct my error."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Lord Kenyon, Stone's Case (1796), 25 How. St. Tr. 1272.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Criminal_justice
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Criminal justice
70 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Criminal justice →
Related Quotes
"There are certain irregularities which are not the subject of criminal law. But when the criminal law happens to be a…"
"A conviction is in the nature of a verdict and judgment, and therefore it must be precise and certain."
"Judges should be, and I believe generally are, careful not to allow proof of other acts of the prisoner besides those…"
"We must follow the old authorities and precedents in criminal matters."
"It is abominable to convict a man behind his back."
"In a criminal case I can presume nothing."
"In criminal cases you always begin by proving the corpus delicti, and then connect the prisoner with it."
"It is the pride of our laws to labour more for the acquittal than the conviction of the accused, however black the al…"
"God forbid that the defendant should not be allowed the benefit of every advantage he is entitled to by law."
"I take it that the judgment is an essential point in every conviction, let the punishment be fixed or not."