JSB171 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Grievous Bodily Harm, Carnal Knowledge, Indictable Offence
Document Summary
The issue here is whether [x] is competent and compellable to give evidence [for/against] [accused]. : a witness is competent if can be lawfully called to give evidence, a witness is compellable if can be obliged to give evidence. The general rule is that every person, including a child, is presumed to be competent to give evidence (s 9 qea). : but for some classes of witnesses, there are special rules that apply: (dealt with separately. Intellectually disabled iii: accused themselves, accused"s spouse. The privileges in contemporary practice are: legal professional privilege legal professional privilege allows for confidentiality of communications between lawyer and client. However, in reality, there is no judge that will make a priest in contempt of court: privilege against self-incrimination a party is not required incriminate themselves. Competence and compellability by the production of a document or in an answer to an interrogatory (reid v.
