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Primary sourceBook1827

Rationale of Judicial Evidence

Jeremy Bentham · 1827

Bentham's five-volume critique of the rules of evidence in English courts, published in 1827 and edited by a young John Stuart Mill.

Bentham wrote this detailed critique of courtroom evidence rules, later edited for publication by John Stuart Mill.

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Photograph of a book binding, rotated sideways, with brown leather spine and corners and a marbled paper cover in blue, cream, red, and black swirls, with a color scale bar at the top.
Jeremy Bentham, Rationale of Judicial Evidence, London: Hunt and Clarke, 1827.

About this source

What it is

This is a five-volume printed work by Jeremy Bentham, published in London in 1827 and edited by John Stuart Mill, then a young man. It is held by the British Library.

Why it matters

In this book Bentham attacked the technical rules that governed what counted as evidence in English courts, arguing they often blocked the truth from coming out. The involvement of Mill, who went on to become a major philosopher himself, shows how Bentham's ideas were passed on to the next generation of reformers.

Look closer

  • Why might someone think the rules for evidence in a court need to be questioned?
  • What does it mean that a young editor like Mill helped prepare this work?
  • How might this book have been used by lawyers or lawmakers of the time?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Jeremy Bentham on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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