''Moorov v His Majesty's Advocate'

is a Scots criminal and

evidence law The law of evidence, also known as the rules of evidence, encompasses the rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a legal proceeding. These rules determine what evidence must or must not be considered by the trier of f ...

case that concerns

admissibility Admissibility may refer to: Law * Admissible evidence, evidence which may be introduced in a court of law * Admissibility (ECHR), whether a case will be considered in the European Convention on Human Rights system Mathematics and logic * Admissibl ...

similar fact evidence Similarity may refer to: In mathematics and computing * Similarity (geometry), the property of sharing the same shape * Matrix similarity, a relation between matrices * Similarity measure, a function that quantifies the similarity of two objects * ...

. The

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary () is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff C ...

established the ''Moorov doctrine'' in its judgment, which is predominantly used in criminal prosecutions involving allegations of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

and

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

. The doctrine states that the prosecution of two or more separate offences, each witnessed by only one person, can be grouped together to evidence the accused's pattern of behaviour to the court and the jury.

Case

Samuel Moorov was a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

and the proprietor of Samuel Moorov & Son on Argyle Street,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. In 1930, he was accused of committing 21 charges of assault and sexual assault against 19 of his female employees. In most of these instances, the only evidence available was the

direct evidence In law, a body of facts that directly supports the truth of an assertion without intervening inference. It is often exemplified by eyewitness testimony, which consists of a witness's description of their reputed direct sensory experience of an ...

provided by the victim. For anyone to be convicted,

Scots criminal law Scots criminal law relies far more heavily on common law than in England and Wales. Scottish criminal law includes offences against the person of murder, culpable homicide, rape and assault, offences against property such as theft and malicious mi ...

uniquely requires

corroboration Corroborating evidence, also referred to as corroboration, is a type of evidence in lawful command. Types and uses Corroborating evidence tends to support a proposition that is already supported by some initial evidence, therefore confirming the ...

, that is, all crucial facts must be supported by at least two independent sources of evidence. Moorov could not be convicted for instances where the only evidence was the testimony by the victim. The prosecutors attempted to introduce "

", arguing that because several victims had testified similar assaults by Moorov, their testimonies could corroborate one another. At the trial stage, the use of similar fact evidence was upheld and Moorov was convicted of seven assaults and nine indecent assaults against his female employees between 1923 and 1930. The court reasoned that Moorov had shown a certain course of conduct, which was sufficient to be used to corroborate his repeated, similar offences over the course of a short period. On appeal, the

Appeal Court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellate ...

upheld the use of testimonies from victims to corroborate offences against one another, noting that there was sufficient connection between the circumstances.

''Moorov'' doctrine

The Appeal Court's decision in ''Moorov'' is recognised as the ''Moorov'' doctrine in Scots criminal and evidence law. The doctrine allows the evidence of a witness to one crime to corroborate the evidence of another witness to a second crime. The doctrine applies only if the two crimes are connected in time, character, and circumstance so that they may be considered to be part of a single course of conduct. The two charges must relate to crimes that are of the same character. The period between the two crimes usually cannot be more than three years. However, the doctrine has been used for longer periods. Although predominantly used in

and

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

cases, the doctrine is not restricted to

sexual offences Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes. Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...

. In 1951, Lord Carmont used the doctrine in a case where the accused had allegedly committed several distinct

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

s with a shaving razors. Soon thereafter, in 1952, Joseph McCudden, a former

Scots Guard The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Kingdom of Scotland, althoug ...

and a

baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

from

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

was charged with two charges of

bribing Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

two

footballers A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

to " throw a game". He was convicted on trial and on appeal, Lord Justice General Cooper, held that the trial court had correctly used the ''Moorov'' doctrine, as the two charges were closely connected. A court may only apply the evidence from a "greater" charge to corroborate that of a "lesser" charge, and not vice versa. For example, evidence for an

indecent exposure Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different ...

charge cannot corroborate a

charge. But evidence for rape may corroborate indecent exposure.

Carloway Review

"It is acknowledged that the recommendation to remove the requirement for corroboration will attract particular comment and, no doubt, criticism. There may be further consequences of abolition that will need to be worked through, as the criminal justice system is progressively reformed. This is the nature of law in society. But the initial decision, which has to be taken, is whether, of itself, corroboration continues to contribute more than it detracts from a fair, efficient and effective system."(para 7.0.5)

References

Scottish criminal case law 1930 in Scotland 1930 in case law 1930 in British law

Case

''Moorov'' doctrine

Carloway Review

See also

References