Title: Reconsidering Calder: Re-Evaluating the Rule of Absolute Exclusion in the Context of Real Evidence
Abstract: Since Calder the jurisprudence has maintained that the exclusion of evidence is final for all purposes including the impeachment of the accused. The current approach, however, fails to give due consideration to the significance of the truth-seeking function of a trial or the Court’s ongoing role in maintaining the integrity of the administration of justice. While the exclusion of evidence properly precludes the Crown from relying on that evidence to prove its case, facts otherwise excluded cannot be ignored or forgotten when the accused chooses to testify. The accused’s choice to testify requires his evidence be considered and assessed in the context of all relevant facts, whether those facts are excluded or not. Anything short of a full exploration of the accused’s evidence in the context of all relevant facts invites the accused to perpetrate a fraud on the Court, and inevitably undermines the administration of justice.
Publication Year: 2017
Publication Date: 2017-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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