William Garrow (1760–1840) was a British barrister, politician and judge known for his indirect reform of the advocacy system, which helped usher in the adversarial court system used in most common law nations today. He introduced the phrase "innocent until proven guilty", insisting that defendants' accusers and their evidence be thoroughly tested in court. Garrow is best known for his criminal defence work, which, through the example he set with his aggressive defence of clients, helped establish the modern adversarial system used in most common law systems. Garrow is also known for his impact on the rules of evidence, coining the best evidence rule. His work was cited as recently as 1982 in the Supreme Court of Canada and 2006 in the Irish Court of Criminal Appeal. In 2009, BBC One broadcast Garrow's Law, a four-part fictionalised drama of Garrow's beginnings at the Old Bailey; a second series aired in late 2010.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Garrow

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1260:

Kublai Khan claimed the title of Khagan of the Mongol Empire after the death of his older brother Möngke in the previous year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khan

1860:

Led by Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi, the volunteer Expedition of the Thousand set sail from Genoa on a campaign to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_of_the_Thousand

1940:

World War II: A squad of 250 Norwegian volunteers in Hegra Fortress finally surrendered to a vastly superior Nazi force after a 25-day siege. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hegra_Fortress

1981:

After sixty-six days without food, Irish republican Bobby Sands died of starvation in HM Prison Maze. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Sands

1992:

The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified 202 years after it was proposed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-seventh_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

sejunct (adj): Separated; separate, distinct http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sejunct

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Do not interrupt the flight of your soul; do not distress what is best in you; do not enfeeble your spirit with half wishes and half thoughts. Ask yourself and keep on asking until you find the answer, for one may have known something many times, acknowledged it; one may have willed something many times, attempted it — and yet, only the deep inner motion, only the heart's indescribable emotion, only that will convince you that what you have acknowledged belongs to you, that no power can take it from you — for only the truth that builds up is truth for you. --Søren Kierkegaard http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard