What does the evidence say.

Evidence refer sto a proposition of fact that is established by evidence called an “evidential fact”. In criminal law, for example, the accused was at or about the scene of the crime at the relevant time is evidence of their possible involvement in the crime.

But the accused’s presence must be proved by producing evidence. For instance, the prosecution may call a witness to appear before the court and get him/her to testify that they saw the accused in the vicinity of the crime at the relevant time. Success in proving the presence of the accused (the evidential fact) will depend on the fact-finder’s assessment of the credibility of the witness and the reliability of their testimony.

The fact-finder is the person or body responsible for ascertaining the truth on disputed questions of fact and the verdict decision-maker. The fact-finder is also called “trier of fact” or “judge of fact”. Fact-finding is the task of the jury or, for certain types of cases and in countries without a jury system, the judge.

A further condition must be satisfied for evidence to be received in legal proceedings. There are legal rules that prohibit evidence from being presented at a trial even though it is relevant to a factual proposition that is material and in issue. These rules render the evidence to which they apply “inadmissible” and require the judge to exclude it. Two prominent examples of such rules of admissibility or rules of exclusion are the rule against hearsay evidence and the rule against character evidence.

It is common for irrelevant evidence, or evidence of an immaterial fact to be described as “inadmissible”. What this means is that the court will refuse to receive evidence if it is irrelevant or immaterial. But, importantly, the court also excludes evidence for reasons other than irrelevance and immateriality.