When: Wednesday, November 27, 2024, 6:15 PM - 7:30 PMWhere: Room 313, Third Floor, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London Mile End Road London E1 4NS
The History of Double Jeopardy and Criminal Jurisdiction: Gamble v U.S. (2019) and R v Hutchinson ( 1677 ) (Profs Mumford and Alldridge)
In a 2019 decision of the United States Supreme Court – Gamble v US - the question was whether an acquittal or conviction in a different jurisdiction falls within the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment so as to provide a defence. The Court answered that it did not have enough evidence about the English case upon which the appellant relied – Hutchinson - to hold that English law in 1676, and hence at the time of the ratification of the US Constitution, was that an overseas acquittal would support a claim of autrefois acquit. This prompted us to engage in a search for better evidence (than was before the US Supreme Court) as to what happened in Lisbon in December 1675 and subsequently. The narrative that emerges is of conflict and attempted revenge in the highest echelons of Restoration society. By identifying the actors in and the politics of the case we show that the decision of the United States Supreme Court was made on an incorrect premise.
Ann Mumford is a Professor of Law at King's College London, where she teaches taxation law and US constitutional law. She is the author of Taxing Culture: Towards A Theory of Tax Collection Law (2003); Tax Policy, Women and the Law: UK and Comparative Perspectives (2010) and Fiscal Sociology at the Centenary: UK Perspectives on Budgeting, Taxation and Austerity (2019)
Peter Alldridge is Drapers’ Professor of Law at Queen Mary University of London. He teaches financial crime. He is the author of Relocating Criminal Law (2000), Money Laundering Law (2003), What Went Wrong With Money Laundering Law? (2016) and Taxation And Criminal Justice (2017).
This is part of the Alumni Seminar Series at the School of Law.