{"id":573,"date":"2018-03-07T09:27:03","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T09:27:03","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-06-01T10:58:04","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T10:58:04","slug":"purpose-of-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/law-help\/lpc\/purpose-of-law.php","title":{"rendered":"The Purpose of the Law of Criminal Evidence | LPC Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Purpose of the Law of Criminal Evidence<\/strong><\/p>\n

The law of criminal evidence provide a body of rules which prescribe the ways in which evidence is presented in a criminal trial. The rules also regulate how the prosecution puts its case to the court. Rules of evidence are also there to ensure that the accused has a fair trial.<\/p>\n

Facts in issue:<\/strong> These are identified by looking at the actus reus<\/em> and mens rea<\/em> of the crimes of which the defendant is charged. For instance in the case of theft, the actus reus is appropriating property belonging to another. The mens rea is acting dishonestly with the intention to deprive. It is of course the prosecution’s duty to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt and in order to do so each element of the actus rea and mens rea must be proved. When discussing issues of evidence there are three core concepts, relevance, admissibility and weight<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Relevance: <\/strong>What is relevant is normally common sense and where there is a dispute between the parties, this should be settled by the judge.<\/p>\n

Admissibility: <\/strong>Evidence will be admissible unless specifically excluded under a mandatory rule of exclusion or if the court exercises its discretion to ensure the defendant enjoys a fair trial. The manner in which evidence has been obtained will directly impact its admissibility and this is particularly true of confession or identification evidence. Where there is a question of admissibility it would be for a judge to decide and admitting disputed evidence could be a ground for appeal against conviction<\/p>\n

Weight: <\/strong>Where the evidence is relevant and admissible the judge must still decide what weight to give it. The weight to attach to a particular piece of evidence is a matter for the jury or magistrates. In relation to identification evidence in particular the judge has a duty to warn the jury about the dangers of relying on some types of identification evidence. In the event that the judge does not give the appropriate warning and the defendant is convicted this may give sufficient grounds for an appeal.<\/p>\n

Assessing the Evidence: <\/strong>\u00a0The CPS lawyer’s role is to assess the evidence that the police have gathered and decide whether it is sufficient for a conviction. Through pre trial disclosure the defence solicitor will know the case against the client and can then assess it against the rules of relevance, admissibility and weight. Where evidence is disputed this is usually ironed out in a procedure known as a voir dire<\/em>– a trial within a trial. The judge will hear evidence from both prosecution and defence about the how the evidence was obtained, apply the relevant law and then decide whether or not to admit the evidence. If the judge decides that the evidence must be excluded the jury would never be told of its existence.<\/p>\n

Types of Evidence:<\/h3>\n