Full Description
This book provides students with essential guidance on what is a conceptually difficult topic. It draws together essential cases, statutes and practical readings on civil and criminal evidence, linked by an extensive interpretative commentary. It provides a firm grounding in the rules of evidence and the relationship between evidence and procedure, placing that relationship, wherever possible, in the broader context of the criminal and civil justice systems. It explores the connection between the rules of evidence and the nature of the common law adversarial trial with its stress on oral testimony, day in court and the examination of witnesses.
Contents
The adversarial, the logical and the legal. Trial procedure - the judge and the jury. The burden and standard of proof. Police investigation, interrogation and confession. Documentary and real evidence. Immunities from testifying: public interest immunity. Immunities from testifying: private privileges and confidential information. The testimony of witnesses: their reliability, competence and compellability. The testimony of witnesses: the need for supportive evidence. The testimony of witnesses: pre-trial disclosure and examination-in-chief. The testimony of witnesses: the hostile witness and cross-examination. The testimony of witnesses: vulnerable witnesses. Character evidence. Similar fact evidence. The accused as witness. The rule against hearsay - its scope and rationale. Common lawexceptions to hearsay. Statutory exceptions to hearsay proceedings: The Criminal Justice Act 1988 and other animals. Statutory exceptions to hearsay in civil proceedings: Civil Evidence Act 1995. Opinions and the evidence of experts. Matters not requiring full proof.
