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Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government

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7.1 CORROBORATION – ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT“corroborate v [f. L. corrōborāt - ppl. Stem of corrōborāre to strengthen, invigorate,f. cor- together, intensive + rōborāre to make strong…] To strengthen, makestrong” 1 .Origins – the need for certainty7.1.1 The requirement for corroboration in <strong>Scottish</strong> criminal practice wasestablished in some form by the time that the earliest of the InstitutionalWriters took up their pens to describe Scots criminal law in earnest 2 . At theend of the seventeenth century, Mackenzie 3 described the “singularity” ofwitnesses, as well as their “contrariety”, as insufficient for proof. Over time,the requirement came to be repeated in one form or another by all thesubsequent Writers, notably Hume in his classic statement 4 :“…no one shall in any case be convicted on the testimony of a singlewitness”.7.1.2 Hume explains:“No matter how trivial the offence, <strong>and</strong> how high so ever the credit<strong>and</strong> character of the witness, still our law is averse to rely on his singleword, in any inquiry which may affect the person, liberty, or fame ofhis neighbour; <strong>and</strong> rather than run the risk of such an error, a risk1 Oxford English Dictionary2 see generally Walker: A Legal History of Scotl<strong>and</strong> Vol IV (The Seventeenth Century) chapter 16 pp605-63 Mackenzie: Laws <strong>and</strong> Customs of Scotl<strong>and</strong> in matters Criminal (2nd (Seton) ed) 1699 (p 269) c 26para 14, referring to Susanna <strong>and</strong> the two elders (see Jackson : Essays in Jewish <strong>and</strong> ComparativeLegal History “Susanna <strong>and</strong> the History of Singular Witnesses; see Gordon: ‘At the Mouth of TwoWitnesses’: Some Comments on Corroboration in Hunter ed: Justice <strong>and</strong> Crime – Essays in Honour ofLord Emslie p 33)4 Hume ii at p 385241

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