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Look up hearsay in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Not to be confused with heresy.
Hearsay literally means information gathered by the first person from a second person concerning some event, condition, or thing of which the first person had no direct experience. When submitted as evidence, such statements are called hearsay evidence. As a legal term, "hearsay" can also have the narrower meaning of the use of such information as evidence to prove the truth of what is asserted. Such use of "hearsay evidence" in court is generally not allowed. This prohibition is called the hearsay rule.
For example, a witness says "Susan told me she was cold". Since the witness did not themself experience Susan's coldness, the statement would be hearsay evidence to the fact that Susan was cold, and not admissable. However, it would be admissable as evidence that Susan claimed to be cold, and that she was capable of speaking at that time.
There are a number of significant exceptions to the hearsay rule.
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Unless one of the many exceptions applies, hearsay is not allowed as evidence in the United States.
In England and Wales, hearsay is generally admissible in civil proceedings[1] but is only admissible in criminal proceedings if it falls within a statutory or common law exception, all of the parties to the proceedings agree, or the court is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice that the evidence is admissible.[2]
Hong Kong's law of hearsay is modeled on the UK law. Since 1 July 1997, English cases are merely persuasive and not binding on Hong Kong courts, but in practice they are usually followed. The situation for civil cases is covered by ss 46-55B of the Evidence Ordinance, that Ordinance also covers certain exceptions in criminal cases, supplementing the common law.
New Zealand law of hearsay is similar to that of the UK. The Evidence Act 1908 is slowly being replaced by the Evidence Act 2006.[citation needed]