ABSTRACT
The scope of the rule against hearsay has gradually been reduced. The Civil Evidence Act 1995 abolished the rule completely in relation to civil proceedings. In criminal proceedings hearsay evidence is governed by Chapter 2 of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 2003, which created four principal categories of admissibility:
( a) hearsay admissible by statute; (b) hearsay admissible under any preserved common law rule; (c) hearsay admissible by agreement; and (d) hearsay admissible in the interests of justice (the ‘safety-valve’).
