Page 86 - Judge Manual 2017

Hearsay evidence can take various forms. Hearsay evidence can be in the form
of a witness telling what someone told him, or it can be in the form of written
reports where the author is not called as a witness, or video or tracking
information that is not authenticated, or a written statement of a person not
called at a hearing.
The difficulty with hearsay evidence is that it can be hard to challenge or
examine its validity or credibility. It can therefore affect the fairness of the
hearing if not treated appropriately.
Rule 63.6 requires a protest committee to take any evidence of a party. It is
common that sometimes a party will make a statement or produce a document
that is hearsay i.e. the maker of the statement is not going to give live evidence.
In these cases, the protest committee is entitled to give that evidence little or
no weight and should advise the parties of that it will give “appropriate weight”
to the evidence.

Different types of hearsay may be given more or less weight. For example,
hearsay evidence such as mark rounding sheets (where the person who
recorded the information is not called), should normally be given significant
weight. Similarly, tracking information or photographs or video (without calling
a witness to authenticate the information) can be given significant weight in the
sense that the information is authentic. The reliability of the information and the
weight to be given to it must be considered separately. A letter or an email from
the technical committee or from a class association about facts that are
generally within the author’s knowledge should be given significant weight, but
not conclusive weight.

On the other hand, hearsay evidence of the description of a racing incident
should be given little or no weight.

All of the evidence on which the protest committee relies must be shared with
the parties. It must also be subject to questioning by the parties and the protest
committee. If necessary the protest committee must reconvene or reopen a
hearing to achieve this.

K.14 Photographic Evidence

Photographic and video recordings may be accepted as evidence at a hearing
and can sometimes be useful. However, there are limitations and problems,
and these should be appreciated by the protest committee.

These points may assist juries when video or photographic evidence is used.
• When a video recording is to be shown to the protest committee, it is the
party presenting the evidence that should arrange the necessary equipment
and ensure an operator (preferably the person who made the recording) is
available to operate it.

• The party bringing the video evidence should have seen it before the
hearing and provide reasons why he believes it will assist the protest
committee.

• It is usually preferable to view the video after the parties have presented
their cases.