Principles and Procedures to Admit and Exclude Evidence Flashcards
What are the two basic requirements for evidence to be considered in a criminal case?
(a) evidence must be relevant to the facts in issue in the case; and
(b) evidence must be admissible. This means that the rules which comprise the law of evidence must allow such evidence to be used in a criminal trial
When does the court have discretion to exclude evidence?
s78 of the CJPOA 1994
Court has a discretion to exclude improperly or unfairly obtained prosecution evidence if ‘the admission of the evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that the court ought not to admit it.’
What type of breach would be necessary for the court to consider exercising its discretion to exclude evidence?
Defence will only succeed in getting the court to exclude evidence if the police breach of PACE or the Codes of Practice, in obtaining evidence, was ‘significant and substantial’
Court will likely only exclude unreliable evidence
- If the evidence is relevant and nothing in the way it was obtained casts doubt on its reliability, it is unlikely to be excluded, even if police breached PACE or COP when obtaining it
What types of evidence might the defence seek to exclude?
(a) evidence obtained following an illegal search
(b) identification evidence
(c) confession evidence
(d) evidence obtained from the use of covert listening and surveillance devices and
(e) evidence obtained in ‘undercover’ police operations
Give a brief summary of when s78 is likely to be engaged
- Evidence is relevant to charge
- Significant and substantial breach of PACE/Code of Conduct in obtaining evidence
- Manner in which it was obtained casts doubt on reliability
If the above are satisifed, the court may or may not exclude the evidence, making it inadmissible at trial
If it is admitted, D can challenge the credibility when giving evidence or cross-examining
