Every criminal case turns on the evidence a court is allowed to consider. As a solicitor, knowing what can be admitted, what must be excluded, and how to challenge the other side's material is central to building or defending a case. The rules of evidence are the tools you use to keep damaging material out and to get the evidence you need in.
This lesson takes you through the framework step by step, from first principles to the rules on who can be called to testify.
What this lesson covers:
- General Principles of Admissibility — the basic conditions all evidence must meet, who decides admissibility, and the court's power to exclude unfair evidence.
- The Hearsay Rule and Routes to Admissibility — what counts as hearsay, why it is generally excluded, and the main statutory gateways that let it in.
- Further Hearsay Exceptions and Safeguards — previous statements, res gestae, the interests of justice gateway, and the notice rules.
- Confessions — what a confession is, the mandatory grounds for excluding one, and against whom it counts.
- Identification Evidence — the dangers of visual identification, the Turnbull direction, and what can support a sighting.
- Bad Character of the Defendant — when a defendant's past can be admitted through the seven gateways, and the fairness safeguards.
- Opinion, Expert Evidence, Competence and Compellability — when opinion is allowed, the expert's duty, and who can and must give evidence.