Ho Hock Lai [H L Ho], A PHILOSOPHY OF EVIDENCE LAW: JUSTICE IN THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH Oxford: Oxford University Press (www.oup.co.uk), Oxford Monographs on Criminal Law and Justice, 2008. xiv and 347 pp. ISBN 9780199228300. £50.
| Published date | 01 May 2009 |
| Pages | 365-366 |
| Date | 01 May 2009 |
| DOI | 10.3366/E1364980909001693 |
| Author | Andrew L-T Choo |
Those who are familiar with H L Ho's carefully-crafted journal articles on aspects of the law of evidence will welcome the publication by Oxford University Press of his
[we] … place ourselves in the role of the fact-finder as a moral agent standing in relation to the person whose case she is empowered to dispose. Justice in trial deliberation requires that she acknowledges the humanity of that person … exercises a sense of justice … and responds to her with empathic care … In short, the trier of fact must appreciate, from the position of that person, the value of respect and concern. A verdict should be given against her only when it can be justified on grounds that she ought reasonably to accept. The standard of proof and evidential reasoning used in reaching the verdict must express adequate respect and concern.
Ho is admirably clear and eloquent in patiently setting out his stall and defending his thesis through the six chapters of the book and a brief epilogue. The first three chapters set the scene by addressing, respectively, aspects of fact-finding, the relationship between “truth” and “justice”, and the epistemology of legal fact-finding. Chapters 4 to 6 then address selected topics in the substantive law of evidence: the standard of proof, hearsay evidence, and similar fact evidence. In Chapter 6, for example, the author argues, from an “internal” perspective, that in a criminal case “the court must not hold the accused's discreditable past directly against him for to do so is to...
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