Thursday, August 31, 2023

Papp Kamali on Fact Finding in Medieval English Law

Elizabeth Papp Kamali, Harvard Law School, has published open access Finding Facts in Medieval English Law, in the Journal of Legal Analysis 15 (2023): 158-182:

Accounts of the post-Lateran IV period tend to emphasize the different procedural paths taken by English courts, which adopted jury trial for felony cases, and continental European courts, which turned toward inquisitorial methods and a greater reliance on confession. This article argues that the fact-finding strategies of the two systems had more in common than may appear at first glance due, in part, to a shared cultural reservoir exemplified by the strategy of circumstantial inquiry employed by confessors. Rather than focusing on the point of greatest difference, the trial jury, this article examines pre-trial investigative processes to emphasize shared jurisprudential priorities.

--Dan Ernst