The Laws And Customes Of Scotland, In Matters Criminal: Wherein To Be Seen How The Civil Law, And The Laws And Customs Of Other Nations Do Agree With, And Supply Ours

Mackenzie, Sir George.
The Laws and Customes of Scotland, in Matters Criminal. Wherein is to be Seen How the Civil Law and the Laws and Customs of Other Nations do Agree with and Supply Ours. Edinburgh: Printed by George Swintoun, 1678. [xiv], 581 pp. With New (2005) introduction by With a new introduction by James Chalmers (Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh School of Law), Fiona Leverick (Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Aberdeen) and Christopher Gane (Professor of Scots Law, University of Aberdeen). Reprinted 2005 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-605-5. ISBN-10: 1-58477-605-6. Cloth. New. $150.

* Reprint of the first edition of one of the earliest systematic studies of the criminal law. Sir George MacKenzie of Rosenhugh [1636-1691], "became notable for his resistance to the pretensions of the Crown, but in 1677, he was made Lord Advocate and in the next few years prosecuted and persecuted Covenanters with such zeal as to earn the title 'The Bloody Mackenzie.' In many cases he strained the law so as to obtain a conviction.": Walker, Oxford Companion to Law 792. He is also well-known for having founded the Advocates Library, now the national law library for Scotland. In contrast to Mackenzie's behavior on the bench, the Laws and Customes is notably moderate, especially in the sections dealing with witchcraft.