Beginning Evidence Law
Glossary
Admissible: something is capable of being admitted in a court of law.
Abuse of the Court’s Process: where the rules in the administration of justice have been brought into disrepute in some way and the rule of law undermined thereby.
Adduce: to use something as evidence.
Adversarial: a system of justice used to settle disputes in which the opposing parties must present evidence to support their case.
Adverse Inferences: negative assumptions drawn from the accused’s failure to do something required by statute.
Affidavit: is a written declaration that is made under oath.
Bad Character: evidence relating to propensity for misconduct or untruthfulness.
Balance of convenience: this is an objective test that is applied by a court to determine whether it should or should not do something for example issue an injunction. The court will consider the effect on each of the parties concerned.
Circumstantial Evidence: something that provides the basis from which an inference can be drawn about a fact in issue.
Compellable see compellability
Compellability: when a witness is lawfully required to give evidence. Competent witnesses are compellable but note the exception in relation to spouses/civil partners who can only be compelled to give evidence against their partner in particular instances.
Competence see competent
Competent: where a witness is considered to be legally fit they can be lawfully called to give evidence. Section 53(1) of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 which makes all persons competent to give evidence regardless of their age other than those that fall under ss.53(3) those not able to understand questions put to them and give answers which can be understood and 53(4) defendants as prosecution witnesses.
Confession: a statement of negative, positive or both negative and positive (mixed) comments, where it includes negative comments then it will tend to incriminate its maker.
Credible: evidence that is accepted by the trier of fact as being believable. See also credibility
Credibility: the quality a witness has that makes his or her evidence worthy of belief. The credibility of the witness will only be considered after they are deemed competent.
Collateral Facts: are not directly connected with a fact in issue.
Cracked Trial: a trial listed for a hearing on the basis of a not guilty plea that does not proceed because the prosecution offers no evidence or the defendant pleads guilty to that or another charge.
Cross-examination: the process of questioning by which a witness’s testimony in an examination-in-chief is tested by the opposition.
Disprobative: evidence that does not prove or persuade someone that a proposition is true.
Direct Evidence: any proof or testimony that goes directly to the fact(s) in issue.
Exclusion: evidence that barred from use.
Evidence: the means by which a fact in issue is proven or disproven.
Evidence-in-chief: the giving of oral testimony without being led.
Hearsay: a witness’s evidence of something they have been told but of which they themselves have not perceived and have no direct knowledge.
Hostile Witness: a witness who the court considers to be hostile acts against the party that has called them to testify. Where the court rules a witness as being hostile the party calling them can cross-examine them instead of examining them in-chief.
Inquisitorial: a system of justice used to settle disputes. Unlike in the adversarial system the judge plays an active role and is responsible for supervising the collection of the evidence that will help resolve the issue. In this system the lawyers play a more passive role.
Insanity: this refers to the mental illness or incapacity of someone to the extent that that the law considers them to be insane. Where a person is instance their ability to give evidence will be in question. See also: M’Naghten’s Case (1843) 10 Clark and Finnelly 200.
Interests of Justice: a notion used by the court in specified circumstances to determine whether evidence is admissible for instance hearsay evidence under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (s.114(1)(d)). It refers to the cause of equity and fairness that is used in the exercise of judicial discretion.
Judicial Discretion: this is the power invested in the court to make a decision based on legal reason but for which there is often a common law and not a statutory basis.
Judicial Notice see Judicially Noted
Judicially Noted: this doctrine allows a court to accept and recognize a fact that is commonly known without the need for evidence to prove it.
Live Link: the technological method by which a vulnerable witness or someone in prison custody can give evidence without being physically present in court and therefore at a distance.
Original Evidence: an out-of-court statement that is proffered for a purpose other than as hearsay evidence for example as proof those words were uttered rather than what they were.
Public Interest: this is the common concern that exists amongst citizens relating to the way in which affairs of state are managed by those in authority.
Prejudicial Effect: any evidence that may lead to the trier of fact making a decision on an improper basis.
Previous Antecedents: a historical list of the previous offence someone has been convicted of.
Primary Evidence: the nature of this form of evidence suggests that there is no better to prove a fact in issue, examples include an original document for instance a lease. This is also referred to as best evidence.
Probative: evidence that proves or persuades someone that a proposition is true. See also probative worth
Probative Worth: the level that evidence proves or persuades someone that a proposition is true.
Rebutted: evidence, where permissible, is used to counter an allegation so that it is proven to be false or untrue.
Re-examination: the process by which any new evidence that has been brought out in cross-examination has its impact limited or is responded to.
Res Gestae: this is Latin for ‘things done’, it refers to the circumstances, events or remarks that relate to a case and that are admissible as trustworthy evidence because they were contemporaneous and spontaneous to the events in question.
Safe Conviction: a criminal conviction that is based on sound evidence and a trial fair process.
Secondary Evidence: this is evidence that is admissible where primary evidence is not available for example a photocopy or reproduction of a contractual document. The implication is to accept that primary evidence is not available.
Statute Barred: this refers to a limitation on making a claim as a result of a prescribed time limit having elapsed.
Summing Up: a summary of the main arguments presented.
Trial Process: a legal and factual examination and determination of the facts in issue in a civil or criminal case.
Voir Dire: also referred to as a trial within a trial, this is the process by which the parties to a criminal trial may raise points of law with the trial judge in the absence of the jury. These can range from making an abuse of process argument right through to challenging the admission of particular pieces of evidence.
Weight: this is how the credibility of evidence is measured thus the more believable the evidence is the greater is the weight that will be attached to it.
Witness Testimony: evidence relating to the determination of a fact in issue given by a witness under oath or affirmation before a court.