General Principles of Criminal Law

Hall, Jerome. General Principles of Criminal Law. Second Edition. Indianapolis: The Bobbs Merrill Company, [1960]. xii, 642 pp. Reprint available January, 2005 by the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-498-3. Cloth. $125. * The standard one-volume treatise based on classic legal-realist principles. As its title suggests, Hall provides more than a thorough overview of the subject; he analyzes the principles that comprise its foundations with an emphasis on their creation and definition by officials. This process is explored in its chapters on legality, mens rea, harm, causation, punishment, strict liability, ignorance and mistake, necessity and coercion, mental disease, intoxication and criminal attempt, as well as its general chapters on criminology, criminal theory and penal theory. Acclaimed when its first edition appeared in 1947, it has been cited regularly ever since.