ABSTRACT
Accused persons as a general class were not allowed to give evidence at their trials until the Criminal Evidence Act 1898. It is a mistake, however, to state that they were always unable to testify in their own defence prior to this Act. During and after the 1860s, statutes from time to time created new offences and specifically allowed defendants charged under the statute in question to testify in their own defence. This gave rise to some curious anomalies which in the end helped to ease the path of the 1898 Act.6
