Australian Uniform Evidence Law

This chapter explains credibility evidence under Part 3.7 of the Act and the common law principles governing the admission of credibility evidence. Central to this topic is what constitutes credibility evidence. This determines the application of the rules on exclusion or admission of such evidence.

In general, credibility evidence is evidence that is directly relevant to the establishment of the credibility of a witness or another person for the ultimate purpose of establishing the facts in issue. As a consequence, credibility evidence is ‘collateral’ with respect to the establishment of the primary facts in issue in a proceeding. From the perspective of relevance, credibility evidence is admissible, even though it is collateral. From the perspective of admissibility, credibility evidence is initially excluded (‘primarily’) because it is collateral, but is then admitted (‘secondarily’) under specific exceptions.

The chapter thus discusses credibility evidence; exclusion of credibility evidence about a witness under the credibility rule; exceptions that permit admission of credibility evidence about a witness; and the admission of credibility evidence about persons other than witnesses.