ABSTRACT
The rule against hearsay excludes an item of evidence only if the purpose of adducing that evidence is to establish the truth of the facts stated. It follows that in relation to any item of evidence that you suspect may be caught by the rule, you need first to ask: ‘What is the job of proof that this item of evidence is being put forward to do?’ Only when you know what this is can you see whether the evidence is caught by the hearsay rule, which is brought into operation not by any particular form of words, but by the use that is going to be made of them. Putting it another way, you need to know the relevance of the evidence being considered.
