Documentary Hearsay and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
| Date | 01 February 1987 |
| Published date | 01 February 1987 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201838705100109 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Journal
of
Criminal Law
DOCUMENTARY HEARSAY AND
THE
POLICE AND CRIMINAL
EVIDENCE ACT 1984
Rosemary Pattenden
*
Part VII of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act
1984
is concerned
with the use
of
documentary’ evidence in criminal trials. It applies
to proceedings in service courts and civilian
court^'^
as well as to all
the regular criminal
court^.^
The Part (which must be read together
with Schedule
3)
introduces reforms in three areas: documentary
hearsay, the admission
of
computer evidence and the proof
of
documents.
Documentary Hearsay
The Criminal Evidence Act
1965
was passed to reverse the decision
in
Myers
v.
D.
P. P.3
in which a majority
of
the House
of
Lords held
inadmissible, on the grounds that it was hear~ay,~ written records
of
indisputable reliability which had been made in the course
of
their
employment by workmen who could not be traced and who, had
they been identifiable, would have had no recollection
of
what they
had recorded. The records proved conclusively that cars sold by the
defendant were not rebuilt wrecked cars which the defendant had
bought but stolen cars which had been disguised; the detachable
chassis and engine number and number plates on each car
corresponded with those
of
a wrecked car but the fixed engine block
number was in every case that
of
a stolen car. Under the Criminal
Evidence Act
1965
hearsay in a document was admissible provided
School
of
Law, University
of
East Anglia.
I
s.
118( 1)
of
the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) adopts the wide
definition
of
a document used in
s.
10( 1)
of
the Civil Evidence Act 1968. A document
includes, in addition to a document in writing, any map, graph, plan
or
drawing or
photograph and anything which records sound
or
visual data.
Ib
These are courts outside the United Kingdom which
try
civilians who are
subject
to
military and airforce law.
*
s.72( 1) PACE.
[
19651
A.C. 1001.
Hearsay is defined in
Cross
on Evidence
(6th ed. 1985). ed., C. Tapper
(henceforth referred
to
as Cross
&
Tapper) at p.
38
as follows: “an assertion other
than one made by a person while giving oral evidence in the proceedings is
inadmissible
as
evidence
of
any fact asserted“.
90
To continue reading
Request your trial