Page 339 - Magistrates Conference 2019

MAGISTRATE’S AND PARISH COURT JUDGES BENCH BOOK

CHAPTER 8

EVIDENCE

Evidence

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(a) Admissions

The first rule of admissibility is relevance. The second rule, which is an exclusionary one, is the rule
against the admissibility of hearsay.

An admission is a statement made by a party to proceedings out of court which may or may not

adversely affect his interest in the outcome of the proceedings. It is admissible as evidence
against him as an exception to the hearsay rule: Slatterrie v Pooley (1840) 6 M+W 664

The admission may be by words either written or spoken or conduct of the parties concerned:
Bessala v Stern (1877) 2 CPD 265

It must be voluntary and not unduly prejudicial: Commissioners of Customs and Excise v Harz
and Another [1967] AC 760, (1967) 1 AER 177

An admission cannot be based on a statement from a third party, since a party can only admit a

matter of which he has personal knowledge, he can only confess to his own acts: Surujpaul v R

(1958) 1 WLR 1050 PC; AG’s Ref (No. 4 of 1979) (1981) WLR 667 CA

1 Anguilla – Magistrate’s Code of Procedure Act Chap. M5, section 59
Antigua and Barbuda - Magistrate’s Code of Procedure Act Cap. 255, sections 47, 56; Criminal Procedure (Committal for
Sentence) Act Cap. 118, section 2
Barbados - Evidence Act Cap. 121, sections 70, 71, 73, 77
Belize - Evidence Act Chap. 95, Belize s. 90, 91
Dominica – Magistrate’s Code of Procedure Act Chap. 4:20 section 52
Grenada - Evidence Act Cap. 92, sections 17- 20, 30, 31
Guyana - Evidence Act Cap. 5:03, section 4
Jamaica - Evidence Act, sections 31A – 31L Patricia Henry v R [2011] JMCA Crim 16;
Montserrat – Criminal Procedure Code No. 9 of 2010, sections 79 - 80
St Kitts and Nevis - Evidence Act No. 30 of 2011, section 2
St Lucia - Evidence Act Cap. 4.15, sections 68-77
St Vincent and the Grenadines - Criminal Procedure Code Cap. 172, section 102; Evidence Act Cap. 220, section 3.
Trinidad and Tobago - Evidence Act Chap 7:02, section 14
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