Admissibility of Records in United Kingdom

Definition of Admissibility of Records

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Admissibility of Records : In civil cases documents containing information (records) are admissible as evidence of the facts stated in them. Before the introduction of the Civil Evidence Act 1995, such documents and records were admissible only if they came within an exception to the rules prohibiting the use of hearsay evidence. Since 1995 the hearsay rules in civil cases have been abolished and accordingly these records are admissible. In criminal cases the hearsay rules in relation to business documents have been relaxed, although not completely abolished, by the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Under these provisions, such records are admissible if they have been compiled by someone acting in the course of a duty to do so.