896 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G. 
great and difficult a work as that of stating the Criminal Law in 
all its voluminous details, with a due regard to arrangement and 
classification, in language carefully selected, avoiding, on the one 
hand, the cumbrous, prolix, inartificial, and bewildering phrase- 
ology of our Statutes; and, on the other, taking care that the 
terms used shall be sufficiently comprehensive to embrace every 
case which is intended to come within it.”—(Letter to Attorney- 
General, 12th June, 1879.) This may be accepted as a sufficiently 
exacting definition of a perfect code. The most common objection 
to the codification of the criminal law is that such a task cannot 
be perfectly performed ; that there will certainly be omissions ; 
that under the present system the Judges can from time to time 
“declare” the common law in such a way as to cover new develop- 
‘ments of lawlessness; and that, as by codification these powers 
are taken away, there would be a loss of the “elasticity” of the 
common law. The practical difference between such a power ot 
“declaring” the law and a power of legislation is very little. 
But this power is in practice very rarely, if ever, exercised ; and 
an even tolerably well-drawn code would not fail to include all 
the principles and rules on which the supposed new declarations 
or adaptations are founded ; and, if any were omitted, they could 
be added by the Legislature with all the more ease and certainty 
if they had an otherwise complete statement of the law before 
them. 
It should be remarked that codification is a very different thing 
from consolidation. The latter is a comparatively easy though 
laborious work, consisting merely in the collection and orderly 
arrangement of existing statutory provisions. Codification in- 
cludes all this, but includes also a complete statement of all the 
principles and rules of law applicable to the subject matter. As 
an illustration of this part of the work of codification, it is pro- 
posed to refer to the chapter on Criminal Responsibility contained 
in the Draft Code lately prepared by the writer for the Govern- 
ment of Queensland. This branch of the criminal law is substan- 
tially common to all civilised systems, and is of general application 
with regard to all acts alleged to be criminal. 
The chapter (a) begins with the rule sometimes expressed in 
the maxim, ‘“ Ignorantia juris neminem excusat,” which is thus 
formulated :— 
“IGNORANCE OF LAW. 
“© 24. Ignorance of the law does not afford any excuse for an 
act or omission which would otherwise constitute an offence, 
untess knowledge of the law by the offender is expressly declared 
to be an element of the offence.” 
(a) Chapter v. 
