ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the admissibility of the accused's previous good or bad character in evidence. The primary rationale for excluding character evidence stems from the fear that evidence of bad character might have a disproportionately prejudicial effect on the jury. The admissibility of evidence of bad character was governed both by the 'similar fact' rule at common law and by the rules laid down in the Criminal Evidence Act 1898. The discretion could be used to limit the application of the subsection in cases in which the accused had attacked the character of a person not involved in the trial. The Court emphasised the need to clarify the principles of good character given the fact that the law had been 'extended to the point where defendants with bad criminal records or who have no right to claim a good character claiming an entitlement to a good character direction'.
