Reasons for Decline: Judicial Scepticism Flashcards
Who are the main two judges in our course?
George Mackenzie (Scotland) John Holt (England)
What was George Mackenzie’s role?
Lord Advocate (Chief Legal Officer in Scotland), 1677-1686.
What did Mackenzie do as Lord Advocate?
He freed a number of suspected witches.
What was Mackenzie concerned with?
The legitimacy of the 1661 witch trials in Scotland.
What did Mackenzie do in 1672 that was significant?
He represented an accused witch (Maevia) in court.
She had been accused of shape-shifting and maleficium.
What did Mackenzie publish in 1678 and what did it say?
‘Laws and Customs of Scotland in Matters Criminal’ - Witchcraft is possible but the majority accused are NOT genuine witches.
What were the arguments he put forward in his 1678 publication?
- True witches deserve punishment but many judges are careless and sentence innocents.
- Witches were deceived people: not evil and don’t warrant harsh punishment.
- Doubted that the devil would offer riches as the witches were still poor.
- Normal legal procedures need to be followed but weren’t. People gave FALSE CONFESSIONS due to torture.
Who was John Holt?
He was appointed Lord Chief Justice in 1689 until his death in 1710.
What did he do at witch trials?
He demanded hard evidence:
- Oversaw 11 trials and all resulted in acquittals of the accused.
What was his 1691 acquittal?
He acquitted two women accused of causing a girl to fall ill. The girl recovered despite the acquittals - witchcraft can’t be to blame.
What was the case of Sarah Murdock in 1701?
- Her case had been dismissed by assize judges but a mob surrounded her house.
- She was trialled by Holt who acquitted her. This again saw backlash.
- She had supposedly bewitched her husband.
- Neighbours defended the hubbie - he couldn’t eat and had gone blind.
What did Holt unexpectedly do at Murdock’s case?
Put the accuser (the husband, Richard Hathaway) on trial to see if he was lying.
He exposed the fraud and sentenced him to a year imprisonment.
What is the significance of the treatment of Richard Hathaway?
It showed how strong Holt’s scepticism was.
Which piece of evidence did he not allow?
He dismissed the idea of the Devil’s Mark.
What was Holt’s impact?
- The higher degree of scepticism made trials harder - fear that the accuser would be on trial.
- High position influenced other judges - brought trials to an end.
- The 1736 Act repealed the 1604 act.
- A stark change from his predecessor (Matthew Hale).
