Introduction

This week we look briefly at a range of different exceptions to hearsay which have developed over time through the common law. At first it will seem like the exceptions have very little in common – and in a sense this is probably true. However, each of the exceptions rests on the same underlying logical premise: that in the circumstances giving rise to the hearsay exception, the probative value of the evidence is likely to outweigh the risk of prejudice.

Each of the exceptions has been developed because the court believes that in the circumstances, the hearsay information is so likely to be reliable that it should be treated as evidence.

Finally, to conclude this week, we will look briefly at some aspects of how the Uniform Evidence laws handle hearsay.

Reading: Field Textbook, Chapter 9-10 (Required)

Objectives

At the end of this week, you should be able to:

• describe the hearsay exception applying when the original maker is deceased or otherwise unavailable;
• describe the res gestae exception and its rationale;
• explain the exception for contemporaneous statements;
• state the ‘telephone rule’ exception and its rationale; and
• describe some key differences between the common law and Uniform Evidence laws approach to hearsay exceptions.

Summary

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Tutorial

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Version

This unit was last updated on 28.10.2019