Bruce P. Archibald

Canadian criminal law

E ric Colvin gets better and better. One has come to expect energy and intelligence in his work. With the second edition of Principles of Criminal Law he again demonstrates these qualities, along with an authoritative mastery over the general part of the criminal law. Let not the apparently modest title to this volume mislead the reader into thinking it is a simplified, introductory text. Principles of Criminal Law is a complex and sophisticated analysis of the general principles of criminal culpability, covering the definitional elements of offenses, general justifications and excuses, and even some procedural defenses. The title is derived from Colvins careful distinctions among general legal concepts, legal principles, and legal rules: