Wow! eBook
Religious Confession Privilege and the Common Law: 9
Author(s): A. Keith Thompson (Author)
- Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff
- Publication Date: 11 April 2011
- Language: English
- Print length: 424 pages
- ISBN-10: 9004172327
- ISBN-13: 9789004172326
Book Description
Does religious confession privilege exist at common law? Most evidence law texts answer ‘no’. This analysis shows that most of the cases relied upon for the ‘no religious confession privilege conclusion’ are not authority for that conclusion. The origin of the privilege in the canon law in the first millennium AD is traced and its reception into common law is documented. Proof that religious confession privilege continues unbroken at common law through to the present day is of obvious importance in jurisdictions where there is no relevant statute. A correct understanding of the common law extant before statutes were passed will influence whether those statutes are broadly or narrowly interpreted. The book also brings the reader up to date on the state of religious confession privilege in the United States, Canada, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
A. Keith Thompson, LLB (Hons) (1981); M Jur (1993), University of Auckland, PhD (2007) in Law, Murdoch University, worked as Area Legal Counsel in the Pacific for the LDS Church from 1991 until 2009 following a career in commercial law as a partner in an Auckland law firm. He now works as Area Legal Counsel for the LDS Church for Africa from offices in Ghana.
