Expert Evidence on the Reliability of Eyewitness Identification—Some Observations on the Justifications for Exclusion: Gage v HM Advocate
| Date | 01 January 2012 |
| Author | Andrew Roberts |
| DOI | 10.1350/ijep.2012.16.1.393 |
| Published date | 01 January 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Case Note |
CASE NOTE
EXPERT EVIDENCE ON EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATION:GAGEvHM ADVOCATE
CASE NOTE
Expert evidence on the reliability of
eyewitness identification—some
observations on the justifications for
exclusion: Gage vHM Advocate
By Andrew Roberts*
Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne
Keywords Expert evidence; Eyewitness identification; Admissibility; Common
knowledge; Probative value
hile expert evidence concerning the reliability of eyewitness identifica-
tions has been admitted by courts in some jurisdictions, rejection is the
more common outcome of attempts to adduce it. The admissibility of
such evidence in England and Wales has been, and remains, a matter of
conjecture, the appellate courts not yet having had an opportunity to consider the
issue. However, in Gage vHM Advocate,1the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justi-
ciary in Scotland considered the application of the principles set out in the English
case of RvTurner2in this context. Its conclusions might provide some indication as
to how the question of admissibility might be resolved in England and Wales. The
court considered the objections to the reception of such evidence to be ‘straight-
forward’ and rejected the appellant’s submission that it ought to be admitted.3In
this note I offer observations on some of those objections and suggest that they are
not as clear-cut as the court suggests. The first section of the note provides a brief
summary of the facts. The second outlines the decision and the court’s reasoning.
Each of the final three sections deals with one of the justificatory grounds that the
doi:10.1350/ijep.2012.16.1.393
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE & PROOF (2012) 16 E&P 93–105 93
W
1 [2011] HCAJC 40.
2 [1975] QB 834.
3 [2011] HCAJC 40 at [27].
*Email: arob@unimelb.edu.au.
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