ABSTRACT
Evidence about character may be relevant in either a civil or criminal trial in two ways. First, it may be relevant to an issue. For example, in a criminal trial for theft it would be relevant to show that the defendant had a reputation for honesty and had never been convicted before of any criminal offence. The purpose of proving this would be to try to establish that the defendant was not a person likely to commit theft, and that the allegation was therefore likely to be untrue. Evidence of good character could similarly be called for a plaintiff in a civil action for defamation where justification had been pleaded as a defence.2
