JCV online test 2

The Judicial College of Victoria released the second part of their online self-test yesterday.

There are ten questions to test your knowledge of relevance, opinion evidence and the discretions. Like the last part, you'll probably need to refer to the Evidence Act 2008 to complete it.

Good luck!

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111. Evidence about character of co-accused

111. Evidence about character of co-accused

(1) The hearsay rule and the tendency rule do not apply to evidence of a defendant's character if-

(a) the evidence is evidence of an opinion about the defendant adduced by another defendant; and

(b) the person whose opinion it is has specialised knowledge based on the person's training, study or experience; and

(c) the opinion is wholly or substantially based on that knowledge.

(2) If such evidence has been admitted, the hearsay rule, the opinion rule and the tendency rule do not apply to evidence adduced to prove that that evidence should not be accepted.

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108C. Exception - evidence of persons with specialised knowledge

Exception - evidence of persons with specialised knowledge

(1) The credibility rule does not apply to evidence given by a person concerning the credibility of another witness if-

(a) the person has specialised knowledge based on the person's training, study or experience; and

(b) the evidence is evidence of an opinion of the person that-

(i) is wholly or substantially based on that knowledge; and

(ii) could substantially affect the assessment of the credibility of the witness; and

(c) the court gives leave to adduce the evidence.

(2) To avoid doubt, and without limiting subsection (1)-

(a) a reference in that subsection to specialised knowledge includes a reference to specialised knowledge of child development and child behaviour (including specialised knowledge of the impact of sexual abuse on children and their behaviour during and following the abuse); and

(b) a reference in that subsection to an opinion of a person includes, if the person has specialised knowledge of that kind, a reference to an opinion relating to either or both of the following-

(i) the development and behaviour of children generally;

(ii) the development and behaviour of children who have been victims of sexual offences, or offences similar to sexual offences.

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