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Evidence

2007

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Inadmissible, Eh?, Jocelyn Downie, Ronalda Murphy Sep 2007

Inadmissible, Eh?, Jocelyn Downie, Ronalda Murphy

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In this commentary, we respond to Stacey Tovino's invitation to reflect further on specific legal issues she raises in relation to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the law (Tovino 2007). Specifically, we take up the issue of evidence law. We do this from a Canadian perspective because, unlike in the United States, this topic has not "been debated for almost 10 years" here (Tovino 2007, 44).


The Principled Exception And The Forgotten Criterion, Steve Coughlan Jan 2007

The Principled Exception And The Forgotten Criterion, Steve Coughlan

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The principled exception to the hearsay rule is routinely described as being settled by the "twin criteria" of necessity and reliability. In fact a third criterion is also — or at least ought to be — at play: that admitting the evidence through hearsay would not undermine any other rule of evidence. The Court has made reference to this third criterion in the past, but it has largely been ignored in both Supreme Court and lower court decisions. The recent judgement in Couture depends in a limited way on that question, and so it marks an opportunity to articulate the …