Evidence Flashcards
Evidence (Definition)
- Is the term for the whole body of material
- Which a court or tribunal (i.e. in criminal cases the judge or jury) may take into account in reaching their decision
- Evidence may be in oral, written or visual form
Admissible Evidence (Definition)
Evidence is admissible if it is legally able to be received by a court
Witness (Definition)
This is a person who gives evidence and is able to be cross-examined in a proceeding
Facts In Issue
- Prosecution must prove to establish the elements of the offence, or
- Defendant must prove to succeed with a defence, in respect of which he or she carries the burden of proof
Weight of Evidence
- Extent to which, if accepted, it is directly relevant to or conclusive of, those facts
- Extent to which it is supported or contradicted by other evidence produced
- Veracity of the witness
Giving Evidence
- In the ordinary way – either orally in a courtroom in the presence of a judge, jury or reading a written statement in a court room
- In an alternative way
- in the courtroom but unable to see the defendant or other person
- outside the courtroom by audio-video link,
or by video recording made before the hearing - In any other way - provided for by the Evidence Act 2006 or any other relevant enactment
Incriminate
Provide information
likely to lead to or increase the likelihood of the prosecution of a person for a criminal offence.
Direct Evidence (Definition)
- Any evidence given by a witness as to a fact in issue
that he or she has seen, heard or otherwise experienced
Circumstantial Evidence (Definition)
- 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
Woolmington principle
is the presumption of innocence. This principle establishes that, subject to specific statutory exceptions,
the burden of proof lies clearly with the prosecution
in relation to all of the elements of the offence.
Woolmington Exceptions
The burden of proof lies with the prosecution except where (burden of proof is placed on the defendant):
The defence of insanity is claimed (S23(1) of the Crimes Act 1961)
Specific Statutory exceptions exist (e.g. S202A (4)(b) – defendant to prove absence of intent) The offence is a Public welfare regulatory offence
Standard of Proof
Any party bearing a legal burden of proof must discharge this burden to the standard required
If legal burden is on the prosecution, it must be discharged beyond reasonable doubt
Where the defence bears the burden, it need only be proved on the balance of probabilities
R v WANHALLA
Juries should be told that a reasonable doubt is an
honest and reasonable uncertainty left in your mind about the guilt of the defendant after you have given careful and impartial consideration to all of the evidence
Beyond reasonable Doubt (Definition)
Beyond reasonable doubt: is the standard of proof required for the Prosecution to prove its case. It means that jurors must be satisfied of guilt before they can convict
Balance of probabilities (Definition)
Balance of probabilities: is the standard of proof required for the defense to prove a particular element of its case (e.g. insanity).
It means it must carry a reasonable degree of probability, but not so high as is required in a criminal case.
If the evidence is such that the tribunal can say:
“We think it more probable than not”, the burden is discharged;
if the probabilities are equal, the burden is not discharged.
Purpose of Evidence Law (S6 Evidence Act 2006)
The purpose of this Act is to help secure the just determination of proceedings by:
c) promoting fairness to parties and witnesses; and
d) protecting rights of confidentiality and other important public interests; and
e) avoiding unjustifiable expense and delay; and
f) enhancing access to the law of evidence.
Establishing facts, exceptions and presumptions
A general rule of evidence is that:
All facts in issue and facts relevant to the issue must be proven by evidence – two exceptions (when no evidence needs to be given of facts) are where:
Judicial notice is taken of facts
The facts are formally admitted
Judicial Notice
When a court takes judicial notice of a fact, it declares that it will find the fact exists or will direct the jury to do so even though evidence has not been established that the fact exists
Presumptions of Law
Presumptions of law are inferences that have been expressly drawn by law from particular facts. Presumptions of law may be either conclusive or rebuttable. example: child under 10 yrs, is unable to be convicted CA1961, S21(1)
Presumption of Fact
Presumptions of fact are those that the mind - naturally and logically draws from the given fact, example: one presumes person has guilty knowledge if they have possession of recently stolen goods
Admissibility and the principles of evidence law
In deciding whether evidence is admissible, the court have reference to certain principals of evidence law, these include: Relevance, Reliability and unfairness
Relevant evidence is defined
Evidence Act 2006 Section 7(3)
Evidence is relevant in a proceeding if it has a tendency to prove or disapprove anything that is of consequence to the determination of the proceeding
Ways unfairness usually arises and result in exclusion of evidence
- Evidence may be excluded if
it would result in some unfair prejudice in the proceeding - Evidence not prejudicial in itself in terms of the actual verdict may still be excluded where it has been obtained in circumstances that would make its admission against the defendant unfair
Section 8 General exclusion provision
The S8 test involves balancing the probative value of the evidence against the risk that it will:
- Have an unfairly prejudicial effect on the proceeding S8(1)(a)
- Needlessly prolong the proceeding S8(1)(b)
Section 43
specific focus on the prejudicial effect on the defendant where the prosecution wish to offer propensity evidence about the defendant.
Hearing in Chambers
Section 15
governs evidence given by a witness, to prove the facts necessary, for deciding whether some other evidence should be
admitted in a proceeding.
Such a hearing is commonly referred to as a ‘hearing in chambers particularly where the jury is excluded from the courtroom for the duration of the admissibility hearing.
Facts determined at a hearing in chambers are sometimes referred to as ‘preliminary facts’, or ‘preliminary hearing’.
Limited use of Evidence & use for multiple purposes
Once evidence is admitted, it can generally be used for all purpose
HART v R:
The statute proceeds on the basis that generally speaking evidence is either admissible for all purposes or it is not admissible at all
Exclusive rules of evidence
- Propensity
- veracity
- hearsay
- opinion
- identification
- improperly obtained evidence