Crime, Reason and History

Abstract

Many books seek to explain the general principles of the criminal law. Crime, Reason and History stands out and alone as a book that critically and concisely analyses these principles and comes up with a different viewpoint: that the law is shaped by social history and therefore systematically structured around conflicting elements. Updated extensively to include two new chapters on loss of control and self defence and with an extended treatment of offence and defence, this new edition combines challenging and sophisticated analysis with accessibility.

U.K. Counterterrorism Law, Pre-Emption, and Politics

“…76-77). Even as it sets out to protect the individual from arbitrary state force, it is also shaped by, and helps to safeguard, a social order organized around the primacy of the relation of private property (Norrie, 2001). Thus, criminal law is doubly instituted on the grounds of liberty and security.…”

“…It is therefore forged by the exigencies of capitalist social relations, which it shapes, accommodates, supports, promotes, and protects (Fine, 1984, pp. 81, 100, 105-119, 145;Neumann, 1937, p. 109;Norrie, 2001;Pashukanis, 1929Pashukanis, /1989Poulantzas, 1978, pp. 63-70, 86-88).…”

A Muted Voice from the Past

“…Within the wider context of her relationship with David, the longer the omission lasted, the more she felt provoked, as 'the fires of her jealous insecurity [were being] continuously stoked during the last week before the murder' (Hancock, 1989: p. 185). Moreover, whilst recognising that 'law operates with an extremely narrow conception of those situations in which an omission can take the place of an act', it is nevertheless the case that 'a failure to act is not ''just nothing''' and 'omission can be as much the cause of an event as acts' (Norrie, 2001(Norrie, /2006. The failure to recognise this in both the trial and appeal confirms the continuity of phallocentric 5 assumptions within legal discourse because it could not, and cannot, comprehend that 'inaction' reinforces women's existing powerlessness and lack of control.…”

“…Ironically, then, in her pursuit and murder of an erring partner, Ruth had in fact killed according to 'a typical masculine pattern' (Leader-Elliott, 1997: p. 152) -conforming to the role culturally scripted for men. Thus, the fact that neither David's departure nor his unfaithfulness were constructed as 'triggers' leading to the killing during either the trial or appeal goes to the very heart of phallocentric continuity in law, illustrating what is 'understood as ''normal'' in society' (Norrie, 2001(Norrie, / 2006) is itself phallocentric. In this case the taken-for-granted assumption that 'sexual provocation .…”

Theorising Criminalisation through the Modalities Approach: A Critical Appreciation

“…Moreover, they have not evolved in proportion to the development of the field at large. Valuable attention to rethinking the conceptual parameters of the field has come from contextual, historical, feminist or otherwise critical scholarship (Ashworth 1991;Farmer 2016;Fletcher 1978;Loughnan 2012;Naffine 2009;Norrie 2014;Wells and Quick 2010); and-as the contributors to this fine essay note-from site-specific areas of criminalisation. But, the conceptual basis for theorisation remains a pressing concern.…”