ABSTRACT
Sections 23 and 24 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 allow for the admissibility of written, but not oral, hearsay in certain cases. Both sections have to be read in the light of either s 25 or s 26. A two-stage analysis is involved: (a) Does this item of documentary hearsay come within either s 23 or s 24?; If
yes, (b) Which of ss 25 or 26 applies, and what will be its effect? (They operate in
different ways.)
Sections 23 and 24 are both confined to ‘a statement’ in a ‘document’. ‘Statement’ means any representation of fact, however made, and ‘document’ means anything in which information of any description is recorded.61 Where documentary hearsay is admitted under either s 23 or s 24, the judge in summing-up must draw attention to the fact that the maker of the statement was not in court to be cross-examined on its contents. The jury should be warned to take particular care, for that reason, when considering that item of evidence. It is not sufficient merely to remind the jury that the evidence was given by way of a witness statement.62
