Law of Evidence Course Manual 2 © The Honorable Society of King’s Inns 2021–2022 Law of Evidence: Course Manual The Manual contains an overview of the Law of Evidence in Ireland. You must read and research beyond the Manual, as there is much detail which the Manual doesn’t address. The Manual doesn’t purport to be an original contribution to the topics covered in it. In writing it, considerable assistance was gleaned from the textbooks and other sources which are listed below and in each chapter. You will find these sources a useful reference point for research. You should read the relevant pages of the Manual before lectures and tutorials. You should supplement that by reading relevant legislation and cases, leading textbooks, and articles in legal journals and publications. The main textbooks about the Law of Evidence in Ireland are: o McGrath, Evidence (2nd ed., Thomson Round Hall, 2014); o Healy, Irish Laws of Evidence (Thomson Round Hall, 2004); o Fennell, The Law of Evidence in Ireland (4th ed, Bloomsbury Professional, 2019); o Heffernan with Ní Raifeartaigh, Evidence in Criminal Trials (Bloomsbury Professional, 2014). You may also find the following textbooks useful: o Balance in the Criminal Law Review Group Final Report (2007); o Heffernan, Ryan & Imwinkelried, Evidentiary Foundations (Dublin, Bloomsbury Professional, 2008); o Coen, Garda Powers: Law and Practice (Clarus Press, 2014); o Murphy on Evidence (15th ed, UK, OUP, 2017); o Cross on Evidence (11th ed, Herdon editor, Australia, 2017); o Cross & Tapper on Evidence (13th ed, UK, OUP, 2018); o Phipson on Evidence (19th ed, UK, Sweet & Maxwell, 2017). N.B. Reference is made in this Manual to the Criminal Justice Act 2011. As of September 11, 2021, only the following provisions in that Act had been commenced (by SI No. 411/2011): o Part 1 (except s 5); o Sections 7 (except paragraph (c)) and 8; o Part 3 (ss 15–22); o Schedules 1 and 2. You should check www.oireachtas.ie or www.irishstatutebook.ie on a regular basis for any further commencement orders. © The Honorable Society of King’s Inns 2021–2022 3 4 © The Honorable Society of King’s Inns 2021–2022 Table of Contents TABLE OF CASES ........................................................................................ 11 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 25 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE DIPLOMA IN LEGAL STUDIES .....................................................................25 2. INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW OF EVIDENCE ....................................................................................25 3. COURSE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES .......................................................26 3.1 Learning Outcomes at Programme Level .....................................................................26 3.2 Learning Outcomes for the Law of Evidence ..............................................................27 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO EVIDENCE, PROOF, AND THE TRIAL . 29 1. REQUIRED READING .......................................................................................................................29 2. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS .........................................................................................................29 3. KEY CONCEPTS AND TYPES OF EVIDENCE ....................................................................................31 3.1 Facts in Issue or Facts at Issue ......................................................................................31 3.2 Issues of Credit/Credibility of Witnesses .....................................................................31 3.3 Relevant Fact .......................................................................................................................31 3.4 Collateral Fact ......................................................................................................................32 3.5 Evidence and Proof ............................................................................................................32 3.6 Testimony .............................................................................................................................32 3.7 Direct Evidence ...................................................................................................................36 3.8 “Original Evidence” or Non-Hearsay Statements ......................................................36 3.9 Circumstantial Evidence ...................................................................................................37 3.10 Real Evidence ......................................................................................................................38 3.11 The “Best Evidence Rule” ................................................................................................38 3.12 Documentary Evidence .....................................................................................................39 3.13 Electronic Evidence ...........................................................................................................40 3.14 Admissibility ........................................................................................................................41 3.15 Prejudicial Effect v. Probative Force of Evidence ......................................................42 3.16 The Voir Dire ........................................................................................................................42 3.17 Weight of Evidence ............................................................................................................42 3.18 Evidence Issues and Appeals .........................................................................................43 4. PROSECUTORS’ DUTIES WITH RESPECT TO EVIDENCE .................................................................43 CHAPTER 2 CONFESSIONS........................................................................ 53 1. REQUIRED READING .......................................................................................................................53 2. GENERAL MATTERS ........................................................................................................................53 2.1 Form and Proof of Confessions ......................................................................................54 2.2 Tests for Admissibility of Confessions .........................................................................56 3. THE JUDGES’ RULES .......................................................................................................................56 4. TREATMENT OF PERSONS IN CUSTODY REGULATIONS .................................................................61 5. VOLUNTARINESS .............................................................................................................................63 6. SUCCESSIVE CONFESSIONS AND INVOLUNTARINESS ....................................................................68 7. UNCONSTITUTIONALLY-OBTAINED CONFESSIONS .........................................................................68 8. PROOF OF A CAUSATIVE LINK .........................................................................................................72 9. ACCESS TO LEGAL ADVICE AND BREACH OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS .......................................73 © The Honorable Society of King’s Inns 2021–2022 5 10. FAIRNESS AND RELIABILITY .........................................................................................................83 11. CORROBORATION WARNING .......................................................................................................86 12. “MIXED STATEMENTS” .................................................................................................................87 CHAPTER 3 WITNESS TESTIMONY ........................................................... 89 1. REQUIRED READING .......................................................................................................................89 2 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................89 3. COMPETENCE AND COMPELLABILITY..............................................................................................89 3.1 The Oath ................................................................................................................................90 3.2 Children .................................................................................................................................91 3.3 The Accused ........................................................................................................................92 3.4 The Accused’s Spouse ......................................................................................................93 3.5 The Mentally Incompetent ................................................................................................94 4. HOSTILE WITNESSES ......................................................................................................................95 5. RULE AGAINST NARRATIVE .............................................................................................................97 5.1 The Complaint in Sexual-Offence Cases ......................................................................98 6. USE OF NOTES TO REFRESH A WITNESS’S MEMORY ..................................................................101 6.1 Pre-Trial Disclosure and Witness Information ..........................................................102 7. CHALLENGES TO A WITNESS’S CREDIBILITY ................................................................................103 7.1 Previous Inconsistent Statements by the Witness ..................................................103 7.2 Previous Convictions of the Witness ..........................................................................103 7.3 The Witness’s Bias ...........................................................................................................104 7.4 Sexual-History Evidence .................................................................................................104 CHAPTER 4 THE RULE AGAINST HEARSAY .......................................... 115 1. REQUIRED READING .....................................................................................................................115 2. GENERAL MATTERS ......................................................................................................................115 2.1 Documentary Evidence ...................................................................................................120 3. HEARSAY V. ORIGINAL EVIDENCE ................................................................................................123 4. IMPLIED ASSERTIONS ....................................................................................................................132 5. ELECTRONIC/MECHANICAL FORMS OF EVIDENCE AND MOBILE PHONE RECORDS ....................133 6. COMMON LAW EXCEPTIONS TO THE HEARSAY RULE ..................................................................138 6.1 Res Gestae .........................................................................................................................138 6.1.1 Spontaneous statements made by a participant in the act or an observer of the act which are relevant to the facts in issue ................................................. 138 6.1.2 Res gestae statements relating to the contemporaneous state of mind or emotions of the speaker ....................................................................................... 141 6.1.3 Statements which accompany and explain a relevant act and which are made at the time of performing the act ........................................................................ 141 6.1.4 Statements of contemporaneous physical sensation felt by the maker of the statement ................................................................................................................ 142 6.2 Confessions and Admissions .......................................................................................142 6.3 Statements and declarations by deceased persons ...............................................142 6.3.1 Statement made against a pecuniary or proprietary interest ......................... 143 6.3.2 Declarations by a deceased person in the course of a duty .......................... 143 6.3.3 Oral or written declarations by deceased relating to pedigree ...................... 144 6.3.4 Declarations by a deceased testator as to the contents of his will ............... 144 6.3.5 Dying declarations which tend to prove the cause of death......................... 145 6.4 Evidence of Previous Convictions ...............................................................................145 6.5 Statements contained in public documents ..............................................................146 6.6 Statutory Exceptions .......................................................................................................146 6 © The Honorable Society of King’s Inns 2021–2022 CHAPTER 5 OPINION AND EXPERT EVIDENCE ..................................... 155 1. REQUIRED READING .....................................................................................................................155 2. GENERAL .......................................................................................................................................155 2.1 DNA ......................................................................................................................................160 2.1.1 “Smart Policing” and the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014 ................................................................................. 163 2.2 Hypnotically-induced Memory.......................................................................................164 2.3 Expert Witnesses and Hearsay .....................................................................................167 2.4 Disclosure of Experts and Expert Reports.................................................................169 2.5 Recent Developments in Civil Proceedings...............................................................170 CHAPTER 6 CORROBORATION ............................................................... 175 1. REQUIRED READING .....................................................................................................................175 2. GENERAL .......................................................................................................................................175 2.1 The Strict Baskerville Definition ...................................................................................175 2.2 Requirement of Independent Proof ..............................................................................178 3. THE ACCUSED’S SILENCE AND NON-COOPERATION ...................................................................180 4. THE REQUIREMENT OF CORROBORATION ....................................................................................183 5. THE MANDATORY CORROBORATION WARNING ...........................................................................184 5.1 Accomplice Witnesses ....................................................................................................184 6. THE DISCRETIONARY CORROBORATION WARNING .....................................................................189 6.1 Sexual Offences ................................................................................................................190 6.2 Children’s Evidence .........................................................................................................196 CHAPTER 7 IDENTIFICATION EVIDENCE ................................................ 199 1. REQUIRED READING .....................................................................................................................199 2. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................199 3. THE IDENTIFICATION EVIDENCE WARNING ...................................................................................200 3.1 Supporting Evidence .......................................................................................................203 3.2 Recognition ........................................................................................................................204 3.3 Sexual-Offence Cases .....................................................................................................204 3.4 Mutual and Cumulative Identifications ........................................................................204 4. MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION ...........................................................................................................205 4.1 The Identification Parade ................................................................................................205 4.2 Use of Photographs, Videos, and other Means of Identification ..........................208 5. PROSECUTOR’S DUTY TO DISCLOSE ............................................................................................212 CHAPTER 8 THE O’BRIEN RULE .............................................................. 213 1. REQUIRED READING .....................................................................................................................213 2 THE O’BRIEN RULE .......................................................................................................................213 2.1 Recent Reform of the Rule .............................................................................................216 2.2 Breach of Constitutional Rights ...................................................................................224 2.3 Extraordinary Excusing Circumstances .....................................................................224 2.4 Other Illegalities and improprieties ..............................................................................225 2.5 Impact of the Constitutional Right to Inviolability of the Dwelling ......................226 2.6 Impact of the Constitutional Right to Privacy ...........................................................228 3. GARDA POWERS OF ARREST, DETENTION, SEARCH, AND SEIZURE ...........................................231 3.1 Powers of Arrest ...............................................................................................................231 3.2 Detention Powers .............................................................................................................236 3.2.1 Detention under the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 ............................................ 240 © The Honorable Society of King’s Inns 2021–2022 7 3.2.2 The End of Detention........................................................................................ 248 3.2.3 Adverse Inferences from Station Detention ................................................... 249 3.3 Powers of Search and Seizure ......................................................................................250 3.3.1 Statute ................................................................................................................... 250 3.3.2 Consent................................................................................................................. 253 3.3.3 Arrest .................................................................................................................... 254 3.3.4 Search Warrant .................................................................................................... 255 4. CIVIL PROCEEDINGS .....................................................................................................................258 CHAPTER 9 BURDENS AND STANDARDS OF PROOF .......................... 263 1. REQUIRED READING .....................................................................................................................263 3. THE LEGAL BURDEN .....................................................................................................................264 4. EVIDENTIAL BURDENS...................................................................................................................266 5. RAISING AND RUNNING DEFENCES ..............................................................................................267 5.1 Defences in General .........................................................................................................267 5.2 Defence of Insanity ...........................................................................................................269 5.4 Statutory Onus Reversals and Presumptions ...........................................................273 6. STANDARDS OF PROOF ................................................................................................................287 CHAPTER 10 BAD CHARACTER EVIDENCE ........................................... 291 1. REQUIRED READING .....................................................................................................................291 2. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................291 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST MISCONDUCT EVIDENCE ..........................................................................292 3.1 Joined Trials and Cross-admissibility .........................................................................292 3.2 The Forbidden Reasoning ..............................................................................................294 3.3 Tests for Admissibility in Exceptional Cases ............................................................296 3.4 Prohibition against Dispositional Evidence...............................................................301 3.5 Background Evidence .....................................................................................................303 4. CROSS-EXAMINATION OF THE ACCUSED ON BAD CHARACTER ...................................................305 4.1 General ................................................................................................................................305 4.2 Admissible Similar Fact Evidence ................................................................................308 4.3 Assertions of Good Character and Imputations against the Prosecution .........309 4.4 Imputations Cast on a Prosecution Witness or Complainant ...............................310 4.5 Giving Evidence against a Co-Accused ......................................................................313 CHAPTER 11 PRIVILEGE .......................................................................... 315 1. REQUIRED READING .....................................................................................................................315 2. PRIVATE PRIVILEGES: GENERAL PRINCIPLES ..............................................................................315 2.1 Secondary Evidence and Accidental Disclosure .....................................................316 2.2 Waiver Exception ..............................................................................................................318 2.3 Crime/Fraud Exception ....................................................................................................320 3. LEGAL PROFESSIONAL PRIVILEGE ................................................................................................322 3.1 Scope of Protected “Communications” ......................................................................324 3.2 Disclosure of Expert Witness Reports ........................................................................325 3.3 Distinction Between Legal Advice and Legal Assistance ......................................325 3.4 Communications in Furtherance of Settlement ........................................................328 3.5 Documents Created for Mixed Purposes ....................................................................329 4. CONFIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS ....................................................................................................330 4.1 Sacerdotal Privilege .........................................................................................................330 4.2 Counsellors’ Privilege .....................................................................................................333 8 © The Honorable Society of King’s Inns 2021–2022 5. PRIVILEGES AGAINST REVEALING INFORMANTS ...........................................................................334 5.1 Common-Law Privileges .................................................................................................334 5.2 The Constitution: Executive and Parliamentary .......................................................335 6. PUBLIC-INTEREST PRIVILEGE .......................................................................................................336 7. THE PRIVILEGE AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION ...........................................................................340 7.1 The Right to Silence .........................................................................................................342 © The Honorable Society of King’s Inns 2021–2022 9 10 © The Honorable Society of King’s Inns 2021–2022