Présentation

An indispensable resource that expertly combines substantive law and trial advocacy, Examination of Witnesses in Criminal Cases takes the readers through meaningful scenarios that they will encounter along the trial path – from the first time they meet their client to when the evidence is completed – whilst all this time improving their advocacy skills and knowledge of the criminal law.

New in this edition

The 7th edition has been thoroughly updated and revised to reflect all noteworthy developments, such as:

• The Age of Information and Defence Implications:
• A brand new chapter discussing the impact social media has on our everyday lives and the resulting legal implications for the criminal bar, it familiarizes counsel with issues they may be confronted with for the first time in a social media-driven case: R.v. Fearon (2014 S.C.C.)

• The Right to Silence and Self-Incrimination:
• A new common law rule developed by the Supreme Court of Canada, namely that any confessions by accused persons as a result of their participation in a "Mr. Big" sting operation was presumptively inadmissible unless the Crown is able to establish, on a balance of probabilities, that the probative value of the confession outweighs its prejudicial effect: R. v. Hart (2014 S.C.C.)

• Expert Witnesses:
• When an expert may be considered impartial by the court: White Burgess Langille Inman v. Abbott and Haliburton Co. (2015 S.C.C.)
• When police officers may be qualified as an expert as it relates to their job description: R. V. Sekhon (2014 S.C.C.)
• Setting the limits to which counsel may educate their experts: Moore .v Getahun(2015 Ont. C.A.)

• Revised, expanded discussions on:
• Ways to control a witness' testimony, and ways in which control can be lost
• Impeachment of the witnesses by prior inconsistent statements
• Cross-examination approaches regarding identification witnesses, to successfully challenge the kind of evidence that has been referred to as "the overwhelming factor leading to wrongful convictions".

"Both experienced practitioners and first-year law students would be well served by consulting Levy’s work. The language and organization, combined with the depth of content, makes it accessible to a wide-ranging audience... Overall, Examination of Witnesses in Criminal Cases has established itself as a key text in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence. This text is valuable to a wide-ranging audience and will, no doubt, remain a key work on law library shelves across Canada."

From a book review by Hannah Steeves, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Sir James Dunn Law Library, Schulich School of Law, appearing in the 2017 Canadian Law Library Review/Revue canadienne des bibliothèques de droit, Volume/Tome 42, No. 3.