Law Commission Monitoring Changes To Evidence Act

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It would be premature to reach a conclusion that the current rules on the disclosure of previous convictions needed changing because they had already been changed, says the President of the Law Commission Sir Geoffrey Palmer.

In tabling before Parliament his report entitled Disclosure to Court of Defendants’ Previous Convictions, Similar Offending, and Bad Character, Sir Geoffrey said the commission’s terms of reference revolved around the law of evidence.

“The law changed after the trials that gave rise to this reference. In particular the Court of Appeal held that the Evidence Act 2006 that came into force on August 1, 2007 changed the law relating to the admissibility of previous convictions and similar offending.

“The commission takes the view that the law prior to the commencement of the new Evidence Act was too restrictive but now the Court of Appeal has held that a different approach is to be taken. The commission is of the view we now need to wait and see how that approach works out. We cannot be sure how the new law will work out in practice.”

Sir Geoffrey said this had led to a recommendation that the commission should continue to monitor and further assess the operation and impact of the provisions of the Evidence Act 2006 as they relate to previous convictions, propensity and veracity.

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ENDS

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