Witnesses, Special Measures, Experts and Privilege: Introduction

This chapter explains who can give evidence, who can be required to give it, how the court makes participation effective, and what limits apply to the evidence and questions. These decisions matter before a witness enters the witness box. An important account may require communication support; a willing witness may lack the necessary competence; a compellable witness may still be entitled to withhold a privileged communication.

Begin with the distinction between admissibility (whether the court may receive particular evidence) and weight (how persuasive the admitted evidence is). A complainant is the person against whom the offence is alleged to have been committed; a co-accused is another person charged in the same proceedings. Neither description proves anyone's account. The judge decides questions of law and admissibility; in a Crown Court jury trial the jury decides the disputed facts. Magistrates or a District Judge perform both functions in a summary trial.

Read this alongside Bad Character, Sexual History and Good Character, which explains the permitted use of previous conduct. Use Confessions and Hearsay for the separate admissibility of statements, and Identification Evidence and Code D Procedure for identification reliability. The next step is Trial Procedure: presenting, testing and evaluating the evidence in its proper sequence. Here the practical aim is to choose the right witness route and propose a lawful, workable evidence plan, not to assume that support settles credibility.