Criminal Justice Act 2003

Section 120: Other previous statements by witnesses

415. This section makes other previous statements admissible as evidence of the truth of their contents (not merely to bolster the credibility of the witness’s oral evidence) in the following circumstances:

• Subsection (2) applies to statements which are admitted to rebut a suggestion that the witness's oral evidence is untrue;

• Subsection (3) applies to the situation where a witness is “refreshing his memory” from a written document. If he is cross-examined on the document and it is received in evidence, the statement will be evidence of any matter contained within it;

• Subsections (4) - (7) provide that a previous statement will be admissible as evidence of the facts contained within it provided the witness states that he made the statement and believes it to be true and one of the following conditions is met:

  • The statement describes or identifies a person, place or thing (which includes objects such as a car registration number) ; or

  • The statement was made when the incident was fresh in the witness’s memory and he cannot reasonably be expected to remember the matters stated. The intention is that where a witness has to rely on another person, or a document, or both to fill in details which he or she can no longer remember, this fact should go to the weight of the evidence, but should not make it inadmissible; or

  • The statement consists of a complaint by a victim of the alleged offence which was made as soon as could reasonably be expected after the conduct in question, and the witness gives oral evidence in relation to the matter. There is a further requirement for such a statement to be admissible which is that the complaint must not have been made as a result of a threat or a promise.