Hearsay: the rule, exceptions under the civil evidence act 1995 and at common law

Hearsay evidence is most easily understood by adopting a two-stage approach.

Stage one involves the recognition of a statement as hearsay.

Stage two requires a consideration of admissibility: a hearsay statement will be admissible in a criminal trial only if the statement falls within a common law exception to the hearsay rule (see 8.3) or under the CJA 2003 (see Chapter 9).