Evidence Text and Materials

Text and Materials on Evidence

Evidence: Text and Materials provides students with essential guidance on what is a conceptually difficult topic. The work:

• Draws together essential cases, statutes and practical readings on civil and criminal evidence, linked by an extensive interpretative commentary
• 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
• 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
• Incorporates the many legislative developments that have occurred since the last edition published including the fundamental changes resulting from the Criminal Justice Act 2003
• Covers all recent case decisions, including key appellate and European decisions

• 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
• Disclosure
• Immunities from testifying: public interest immunity
• Immunities from testifying: legal professional privilege 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: examination-in-chief
• The testimony of witnesses: the hostile witness and cross-examination
• The testimony of witnesses: vulnerable witnesses
• Character evidence: introduction
• Bad character evidence in criminal proceedings
• The rule against hearsay - its scope and rationale under the Criminal Justice Act 2003
• Common law exceptions to hearsay under s.118
• Statutory exceptions to hearsay proceedings: The Criminal Justice Act 2003
• Statutory exceptions to hearsay in civil proceedings: Civil Evidence Act 1995
• Opinions and the evidence of experts
• Matters not requiring full proof