Golden rules of medical evidence

STANLEY B. ATKINSON, M.A., M.B., B.Sc.
of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law; a Justice of the Peace for the County of London; Hon. Sec. of the Medico-Legal Society ( London ).
“GOLDEN RULES” SERIES. No. XVI.
Bristol: JOHN WRIGHT & CO. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd.
The science, the art, and the correct estimation of the value of Medical Evidence is the province of Forensic Medicine.
It is hoped that this little book will aid the General Practitioner when he is called upon to offer medical testimony, so that the ancient inquest jury especially may fully appreciate the bearing of the technical facts he narrates. Those who pose as “experts,” should ipso facto be themselves authorities on the matter and the manner of bearing testimony.
Stanley B. Atkinson,
10, Adelphi Terrace, W.C.
Every legally qualified and registered medical practitioner in actual practice in or near the place where the death in question happened, by the Coroners Act, 1887, may be summoned by the Coroner to give medical evidence as to the cause of that death. Thus medical men may be compelled to practise medical jurisprudence if called upon so to do. With the growth of knowledge and exact observation, the weight which is attached to medical evidence has increased proportionately. It is still true, however, that “the exercise of a sound judgment, which is of far more value in medico-legal matters than all the substance of all the ancient medicina forensis , must be our guide.”
The Coroner’s Court differs from other tribunals in that, primarily, it conducts an enquiry to which there are no formal parties. The evidence received by this Court is on that account much less bound by technical rules.
The evidence of
I. Common witnesses of Facts which they have observed. They state the minor premiss of the forensic argument. Those who can describe technical matters which they have seen are skilled common witnesses : medical men usually appear in court as skilled witnesses. Job’s “I shall see for myself, and my own eyes shall behold, and not another,” indicates the correct attitude of a common witness of fact.