Friday 18 September 2009

Hearsay Evidence

*Tuts*

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Are you tutting at yourself or your provider ? :)

Barmaid said...

Myself mostly:-)

Anonymous said...

I think they overcomplicate hearsay when they tech it. I got it clear when I started to think essentially its not about WHAT it is its about WHY its being used!!

Swiss Tony said...

Bm, it not as bad as you think. What you need to do is read the books very very carefully, give it a lot of thought, consider the effects and reasons it used, and then go down the pub.

Its pointless trying to understand it. Even your new mate Chris hasn't offered you the simple solution, so it must be bad.

Swizzy

Barmaid said...

In true barmaid style I have resorted to the fail safe measure that I utilised during LLB Land Law and Trusts - I'm ignoring it and doing other homework instead.

To date I have read Blackstones, then the ICSL manual and then John Sprack. I'm now searching ebay and amazon for a cheap copy of 'hearsay for dunces', but it seems to be sold out everywhere:-)

Swiss Tony said...

BM, ask CofL for their guide to Hearsay.

Its called 'Lets all play with Hearsay'. It has dot the dot hearsay applications, pretty Hearsay tables that you can colour in, and even some Hearsay Gateway stickers.

It sorted me out.

Swiss

barboy said...

Maid, once your house is suitably spik and span, don't despair. You can always bring your mop round to mine. No need to thank me; just doing my bit.

Lost said...

Hearsay is still stupidly difficult I think..

1. is it a statement
2. otherwise made in the course of the proceedings
3. was it the purpose of the statement maker to cause the witness to believe in the matter stated.
4. is the statement being relied upon for the truth of the matter stated.

If yes to all four, (3 is the tricky part) then its hearsay and find an exception.. of which of course could be any one of them as the CA always says that it can go through s 114(1)(d) interests of justice test, even when its not hearsay.. R v Leonard classic example of them f'ing it up.

Lost said...

Adrian Keane's chapter is quite good on Hearsay in his book, though may not cover Alkahwaja and Tahery v UK, and the Horncastle appeal, big Art 6 challenges there.

Every chapter on hearsay is practically out of date by the times its published, best to look for commentary in the Crim LR

If you need help with specifics give me an email.. I know a lot about it..

Barmaid said...

LG - I think that I'm going to go back to square one and start afresh with hearsay - I typically tried to rush the reading (loads of it) and have lost the plot:-)

Swizz - It would help if the manual gave us a clue as to what shapes we are meant to be drawing - mine finished up as a question mark!

Lost - I have keanes book, so will try that out instead of Blackstones. Perhaps if I grab the basics and leave it for a day or two and then venture further with the nitty gritty once the basics have sunk in.

BB - 'homework' dear boy 'homework' - it aint so bad that I've had to resort to HOUSEWORK yet!!!

Unknown said...

I'm with Lost on this - his explanation of what Hearsay is (including which bit is the tricky bit) is spot on; Keane is also good on the topic. Blackstone's, I fear, is not the place to start on this topic... Archbold looks like it has a succinct and more readable explanation.

Lost said...

Barmaid do you have an email I can contact you on?

Lost said...

Also thanks Chris :)