ABSTRACT
Although confessions are out-of-court statements adduced to prove the truth of their contents, they are admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule.2 However, it is recognised that considerations of fairness or reliability may make it undesirable to admit evidence of a particular confession, or other items of evidence on which the prosecution proposes to rely. The law on these matters reflects a tension between the need to ensure the conviction of the guilty and the need to ensure that people are not convicted on evidence that is unreliable, or as a result of proceedings that are unfair.
