Citizendia

This article is about the form of evidence, hearsay. For Hear'Say, the British pop group, see Hear'Say . Hear’Say were a British manufactured pop group created in February 2001 from the winners of

Hearsay is a legal term referring to the use of out of court statements as evidence.

Contents

Worldwide

United States

Main article: Hearsay in United States law

Unless one of the many exceptions applies, hearsay is not allowed as evidence in the United States. Hearsay is the legal term that describes statements made outside of court or other judicial proceedings

England and Wales

Main article: Hearsay in English law

In England and Wales, hearsay is generally admissible in civil proceedings[1] but is only admissible in criminal proceedings if it falls within a statutory or common law exception, all of the parties to the proceedings agree, or the court is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice that the evidence is admissible. History of the rule The rules of hearsay began to form properly in the late seventeenth century and had become fully established by the early nineteenth century [2]

Hong Kong

Hong Kong's law of hearsay is modeled on the UK law. Since 1 July 1997, English cases are merely persuasive and not binding on Hong Kong courts, but in practice they are usually followed. The situation for civil cases is covered by ss 46-55B of the Evidence Ordinance, that Ordinance also covers certain exceptions in criminal cases, supplementing the common law.

New Zealand

New Zealand law of hearsay is similar to that of the UK. The Evidence Act 1908 is slowly being replaced by the Evidence Act 2006.

References

  1. ^ Civil Evidence Act 1995, s. 1.
  2. ^ Criminal Justice Act 2003, s. 114. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (2003 c44 is a wide ranging Act of Parliament introduced to modernise many areas of the Criminal justice system in England

Dictionary

hearsay

-noun

  1. information that was heard by one person about another
  2. (law) evidence based on the reports of others rather than on personal knowledge; normally inadmissible because not made under oath
  3. (law) evidence: an out-of-court statement offered in court for the truth of the matter asserted; normally inadmissible because not subject to cross-examination, unless the hearsay statement falls under one of the many exceptions
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