Elliott & Wood's Cases and Materials on Criminal Law

Authors: Michael J Allen & Simon Cooper

Price: £30.95

Edition: 9th Edition (August 2006)

ISBN: 978-0-421-92450-0

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For many students, criminal law throws up some of the most interesting cases.  For example, many students will remember (even those who later practise solely in civil or commercial law) cases like R v Caldwell and R v Gomez.  Because there are so many cases, however, students will often need a cases and materials text to keep on top of basic facts.  To my mind, Elliott & Wood's Cases and Materials on Criminal Law is one of the better offerings.

Written and edited by two experienced criminal law academics, Elliott & Wood's Cases and Materials on Criminal Law is separated into fifteen chapters covering topics from principles like actus reus, mens rea and defences to specific offences like homicide, theft, burglary and criminal damage.  Each chapter adopts a similar approach by breaking the material in to its constituent parts and then discussing the key cases and materials for each part.

Like many cases and materials texts, Elliott & Wood's Cases and Materials on Criminal Law provides a brief summary of the law (although readers should consult a textbook for more information) and each part includes extracts from cases and materials building upon and explaining the text.  The text is well-written although it is, at times, rather wordy.  Its layout could also be improved because it is often difficult to quickly differentiate between the text and materials.  The extracts are, however, superbly selected meaning the key points are clearly explained.

Whilst there are a number of cases and materials texts for this popular area of law, Elliott & Wood's Cases and Materials on Criminal Law is one of the better ones.  It superbly selects the most relevant cases and materials which are often combined with thought-provoking notes.  Whilst there are issues with layout and written style, this should not detract from what is otherwise a solid and accessible text.

Reviewed on 2 March 2009

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