ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to provide an outline of the way in which evidence law has developed, and to say something about its possible objectives today. Some knowledge of the development of a legal subject is useful because it can make the present law easier to understand. It can also be helpful in practice if you have to argue a point of law. An opponent will sometimes try to rely on an earlier decision that appears to be against you. It may not be possible to show that it has been overruled, and it may be difficult to distinguish it from your case on the facts. What you may be able to do, though, is show that the legal context in which it was decided was different from that of today; the law moves on, and your opponent’s ‘authority’ is no more than a relic of an outdated approach.1 Thinking about the possible objectives of evidence law can have a use beyond that of answering examination questions. In a subject that is increasingly governed by discretion and based on principles as well as rules, a wide perspective can be useful in argument, as the statute and case law on improperly obtained evidence shows.2
