Evidence in the World
Introduction to Evidence in the World
The rules of evidence vary throughout the world. In the United Kingdom, evidence law closely resembles its American descendant because the trial court practices remain nearly identical. The major departure has been British abandonment of jury trials in noncriminal cases, which accounts for their relaxation of the hearsay rule in civil cases. Other legal systems deriving from British traditions, such as those in Canada and Australia, have similar evidence laws.
Western Europe generally follows a civil-law tradition in trial procedure and consequently employs quite different evidence rules. The codes there are nearly silent on the subject of admissibility, most probably because jury trial is unknown. Witnesses are questioned by judges rather than by lawyers, thus minimizing disputes about what questions are permissible. European civil and criminal codes allow witnesses privileges similar to those found in the American legal tradition, although they are generally less protective of the accused party. See Civil Law.
The socialist nations of Eastern Europe continue the judicial procedures in force before socialism was adopted. Their practices closely resemble those of their Western neighbors. Marxist principles have had some influence on court procedures, but little on evidence law.
The Soviet Union employed judicial procedures that resembled Anglo-American practices. Because jury trial was not used, no rule against hearsay evidence existed. The judge decided which witnesses could testify, but questioning was handled by lawyers, as in the U.S., rather than by judges, as in Western Europe. In criminal proceedings, certain limited privileges with regard to answering questions existed, but only the lawyer-client privilege was recognized in all cases.
Japan presents an unusual case. Its legal codes borrowed heavily from German laws and still resemble them to some extent, but the post-World War II constitution incorporated many protections of the accused found in U.S. law.” (1)
Resources
Notes and References
- Information about Evidence in the World in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia
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