Why Is Admissible Evidence Important

CHAPTER IV

Admissible evidence in civil proceedings

Any evidence, to be admissible, must be relevant. The rules on evidence contained primarily within Parts 32 and 33 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 give the court power to control the evidence brought before it. For example, the court may decide, prior to trial, that a particular issue between the parties is no longer important and can therefore make an order excluding any evidence that the parties intended to use in relation to that particular issue.

There are some exceptions to the rule that any relevant evidence is admissible. This includes:

Opinion evidence

The general rule is that opinion evidence is not admissible, as the function of a witness is to relate the facts to the court so the court can draw its own conclusions. However, there are

Evidence is typically introduced to a judge or a jury to prove a point or element in a case.

In criminal law, evidence is used to prove a defendant 's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

However, before evidence can even be used in a criminal case, it must be considered “admissible”. Whether evidence is admissible or not depends on several different factors that the court must analyze. Many different items and statements are often excluded from evidence in a criminal trial because it is considered “inadmissible”.

Hearsay evidence may be admissible in criminal proceedings if it satisfies certain requirements. These are:

• if any statutory provision makes it admissible (e.g. cases where a witness is unavailable);

• if any rule of law preserved by section 118 of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 2003 makes it admissible;

• if all parties to the proceedings agree to it being admissible;