Evidence

The de recenti disclosure of an undistressed complainer to a third party that they have been the victim of a sexual offence is corroborative, a full bench of the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary has ruled – though one judge gave a minority view warning against the effective removal

British courts' approach to eyewitness evidence is flawed, researchers at Aberdeen University have claimed. A team of researchers led by Dr Travis Seale-Carlisle collated expert opinion gathered from scientists from all over the world on a variety of eyewitness memory phenomena. They found an "almos

A £33 million Scottish government initiative for sharing digital evidence from crime scene to court room is being rolled out across Scotland. Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC) allows police officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers, court staff and judges to access a secure, unified syst

The UK Information Commissioner has called on the criminal justice sector to immediately stop collecting excessive amounts of personal information from complainants in rape and serious sexual assault cases. The call is published in a Commissioner’s Opinion which informs the sector how to use p

Graphic videos depicting violence are negatively affecting the mental health of juries, the Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway has warned. In an intervention recommending careful consideration of the use of such evidence, the judge said lawyers should take “great care” when deciding if

Solicitor Eamon Keane, early career fellow in criminal law and evidence at the University of Edinburgh, expresses 'considerable concern' over the Scottish government's hearsay reforms, which have passed stage one. The proposals in the Coronavirus Bill (at Schedule 4 Part 6) cause me considerable con

Eamon Keane has provided written evidence to the Norwegian Court Commission (Domstolkommisjonen) on the Scots law of the evidence. The commission is investigating how the Norwegian courts should be organised to meet expectations of efficiency, quality, and independence and approached Mr Keane in ord

New specialised evidence facilities in Glasgow have been formally opened. The Glasgow Evidence and Hearings Suite provides facilities to let child witnesses pre-record their evidence and for vulnerable witnesses to give evidence remotely. The suite also provides hearing rooms for the Additional Supp

A judge has questioned why the courts require facts to be "squeezed into a Moorov straitjacket" instead of recognising a more general principle admitting similar fact evidence where relevance is established. Lord Glennie made the obiter comments in a judgment allowing the appeal against conviction o