ABSTRACT
Section 1(2) of the Civil Evidence Act 1995 defines hearsay, for the purposes of that Act, as ‘a statement made otherwise than by a person while giving oral evidence in the proceedings which is tendered as evidence of the matters stated’. That definition is, in effect, adopted in s 114(1) of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 2003, which states, ‘In criminal proceedings a statement not made in oral evidence in the proceedings is admissible as evidence of any matter stated if, but only if ...’, and then goes on to set out the circumstances in which such evidence will be admissible.2
