relevance and admissibility Flashcards
examples of admissibility determinations
s174 of CPA- Accused wants to apply for discharge (criminal law)
s342A of CPA-Accused wants to apply for stay of prosecution (criminal law)
Rule 23- party wants to apply for absolution of instance (civil law)
Not all evidence is relevant
evidence has to be relevant in order to be admissible
s2 of CPEA
s210 of CPA
“all irrelevant info is ex lege inadmissible”
=exclusionary rule with no exceptions
case showing that not all evidence is relevant
o FACTS: deceased made a statement to his sister and attorney about his wife’s abuse. His wife was later accused of murdering the deceased (her husband).
o HELD: the statements so made to the sister and attorney of the deceased are irrelevant as there is NO LOGICAL NEXUS between the alleged assault and the death of the deceased, and the HEARSAY EVIDENCE would be greatly PREJUDICIAL to the accused. It was thus irrelevant [Let alone that hearsay evidence is an exclusionary rule]
give reasons why Not all relevant info is admissible
the courts do not allow untrammelled access to relevant information
the goal of the courts is to facilitate a search for the truth in a manner that is fair and efficient and taking all relevant evidence into account would detrimental to that goal
SALRC on conditions under which relevant evidence may be excluded
a) If would cause unfair prejudice
b) would be a waste of time
c) would be confusing or misleading
case showing conditions deemed by SALRC to result in inadmissible
S v Troop ( tracker dog case)
HELD:
rejected the evidence because of its poor probative value and the potential prejudice to the accused.
Low probative value coupled with high risk for prejudice is especially prevalent with ‘similar fact evidence’
Nature of admissibility of evidence
interlocutory in nature (allows court to change stance is evidence is later deemed to be admissible)
and provisional in nature
