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Criminal evidence and procedure – Admissibility of hearsay evidence – Right to fair trial. Sheriff Appeal Court: Refusing an appeal against conviction for assault by an appellant at whose trial the sheriff admitted the hearsay evidence of a child witness in the form of a police statement after she refused to enter a room where she had been due to give evidence by CCTV, the court concluded that the sheriff was entitled to be satisfied that the witness had refused to be admonished to tell the truth such that the evidence of her statement was admissible under s 259 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, and that the admission of the hearsay did not render the trial unfair in terms of art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Criminal evidence and procedure – Admissibility of hearsay evidence – Right to fair trial. Sheriff Appeal Court: Refusing an appeal against conviction for assault by an appellant at whose trial the sheriff admitted the hearsay evidence of a child witness in the form of a police statement after she refused to enter a room where she had been due to give evidence by CCTV, the court concluded that the sheriff was entitled to be satisfied that the witness had refused to be admonished to tell the truth such that the evidence of her statement was admissible under s 259 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, and that the admission of the hearsay did not render the trial unfair in terms of art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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