ABSTRACT
All organized societies throughout recorded history have developed some sort of system to adjudicate deviancy from the accepted social norms. This chapter considers some ancient to near-modern legal systems that used some form of proof or evidence to determine criminal responsibility. Presentations of the early systems—Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Chinese, Hebrew, Greek, and Roman—receive introductory treatment. The Anglican legal system is discussed and the present system used in the United States and the Federal Rules of Evidence are introduced and illuminated.
