ABSTRACT
On occasion, some aspects of a person’s past conduct may be considered relevant to their involvement in current legal proceedings. This is often referred to in terms of ‘character evidence’, a term which encompasses a number of different categories of evidence relating to both witnesses and the accused in criminal proceedings. Discussion relating to character evidence often concentrates on the existence of previous convictions although, as will be seen, the term ‘character evidence’ also covers a range of other evidence. As with the law governing hearsay evidence, the principles of character evidence originally developed under the common law but are now largely governed by the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
