Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T08:06:29.810Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - What is the law of evidence?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2009

William Twining
Affiliation:
University College London
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Cross-cultural communication invites exchanges of stereotypes. A common kind of English joke involves trying to explain the mysteries of the game of cricket to foreigners. Conversely many foreign commentators treat cricket as a symbol of the English character. The English Law of Evidence is often presented as being even more bizarre and complex than the game of cricket. Anglo–American legal proceedings are often perceived as a kind of game, in which fair play and American conceptions of due process have indeed played an important role in the development and survival of some of our technical rules of evidence. But like all analogies it can be pressed too far. Here, two important differences reflect central themes in this essay. On the one hand, I shall argue that our law of evidence is, in its fundamentals, much simpler than is commonly supposed. On the other hand, while I am prepared to give unqualified loyalty to the game of cricket, I share with most common lawyers a deep ambivalence about some important aspects of our law of evidence.

The purpose of this chapter is to try to demystify the modern English Law of Evidence by presenting a broad overview, shorn of the complexities and details that are the reason for its reputation. The standpoint is that of an expositor trying to give a clear and realistic overview of this branch of English law to newcomers to the subject, whether they be law students or lawyers trained in a different system.

Type
Chapter
Information
Rethinking Evidence
Exploratory Essays
, pp. 192 - 236
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×