Definitions

Question 1

Define Evidence

Answer 1

“Evidence” is the term for the whole body of material which a court or tribunal – ie in criminal cases the Judge or jury – may take into account in reaching their decision.
Evidence may be in oral, written or visual form.

Question 2

Define admissible evidence

Answer 2

Evidence is admissible if it is legally able to be received by a court.

Question 3

Define Relevance

Answer 3

Evidence is relevant “if it has a tendency to prove or disprove anything that is of consequence to the determination of a proceeding” (s7(3)of the Evidence Act 2006).

Question 4

Define facts in inssue

Answer 4

Facts in issue are those which:
• the prosecution must prove to establish the elements of the offence, or
• the defendant must prove to succeed with a defence, in respect of which
he or she carries the burden of proof.

Question 5

Define exclusionary rules

Answer 5

These are rules that exclude evidence (usually because it is unreliable, unduly prejudicial or otherwise unfair to admit it).

Question 6

Define weight of evidence

Answer 6

The “weight” of evidence is its value in relation to the facts in issue. The value will depend on a wide range of factors, such as:
• the extent to which, if accepted, it is directly relevant to or conclusive of,
those facts
• the extent to which it is supported or contradicted by other evidence
produced
• the veracity of the witness.
The “weight” is the degree of probative force that can be accorded to the evidence.

Question 7

Define little evidence

Answer 7

Evidence must be elicited before it is “offered”: Merely putting a proposition to a witness is not offering evidence; it becomes so when the witness accepts the proposition – s96(1) of the Evidence Act 2006. Offering evidence in the Evidence Act 2006 includes eliciting evidence by cross-examination of a witness called by another party.

Question 8

Define Circumstantial evidence

Answer 8

This is evidence of circumstances that do not directly prove any fact in issue, but which allow inferences about the existence of those facts to be drawn (e.g. the defendant was seen in the vicinity of the scene of the crime).

Question 9

Define propensity

Answer 9

Propensity evidence is evidence about a person’s propensity to act in a particular way or have a particular state of mind, and includes evidence of acts, omissions, events or circumstances with which a person is alleged to have been involved.

Question 10

Define hearsay evidence

Answer 10

This is a statement that was made by a person other than a witness, and is offered in evidence in the proceeding to prove the truth of its contents. This definition means that out-of-court statements made by a “witness” are not excluded by the hearsay rule because the maker is available to be cross- examined. Such statements may still be excluded by a different rule. A statement offered for some purpose other than proving the truth of its contents, for example merely to show that the statement was made or uttered, is not a hearsay statement.