ABSTRACT
Since the abolition of the hearsay rule in civil proceedings (Civil Evidence Act 1995), the rules restricting the admission of hearsay evidence are now only applicable to criminal proceedings. Part II, Chapter 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 deals with hearsay evidence and will apply to all trials and other hearings such as Newton hearings beginning on or after 4th April 2005 (R v H (2005)). Hearsay is defined by s 212(2) of the Act 2003 as:
a statement, not made in oral evidence, that is relied on as evidence of a matter stated in it.
