Recent Updates to Uniform Evidence Manual

Major Updates: Dupas v The Queen and Journalist Privilege

The Uniform Evidence Manual has been updated to reflect the Court of Appeal's decision in Dupas v The Queen [2012] VSCA 328. This decision by Warren CJ, Maxwell P, Nettle, Redlich and Bongiorno JJA carefully examined the operation of Evidence Act 2008 s137 and held that courts must not assume that evidence is reliable when assessing probative value.

Sections affected include:

• s79 - Exception to the opinion rule: opinions based on specialised knowledge;
• ss97, 98 - Civil and criminal proceedings: the tendency rule and the coincidence rule;
• Part 3.7 - Credibility (ss101A-108C);
• Part 3.9 - Identification evidence (ss113-116); and
• Part 3.11 - Discretionary and mandatory exclusions (ss135-139).

The Manual also contains the new Division 1C of Part 3.10 - Privileges which describes the journalist privilege introduced by the Evidence Amendment (Journalist Privilege) Act 2012 on 1 January 2013.

To access the Manual, click here.