Safeguards against hearsay in criminal proceedings


Produced in partnership with Redmond Traynor and Neelam Gomersall of 2 Hare Court.
Practice notes

Safeguards against hearsay in criminal proceedings


Produced in partnership with Redmond Traynor and Neelam Gomersall of 2 Hare Court.

Practice notes
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Exclusion under the Criminal Justice Act 2003

The admissibility of hearsay in criminal proceedings is governed by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (CJA 2003).

CJA 2003 allows for the admission of hearsay evidence if one or more of the statutory grounds of admissibility are satisfied.

CJA 2003 also provides several safeguards, described by the Court of Appeal in Horncastle as a ‘crafted code’ designed to ensure that hearsay is admitted only when it is fair that it should be.

See Practice Note: Admissibility of hearsay evidence.

Practitioners may wish to begin by considering whether the hearsay evidence might be excluded entirely under CJA 2003, s 126 or section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984), before considering what other safeguards might be deployed if it is admitted.

General discretion to exclude

Under CJA 2003, s 126, the courts have a discretion to exclude hearsay evidence where it is satisfied that the case for excluding the evidence, taking into account the danger that to admit it would result

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