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Evidence Act 2006

Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality - Statements of opinion and expert evidence

24: General admissibility of opinions

You could also call this:

"When you're a witness, you can share your opinion to help explain what happened"

Illustration for Evidence Act 2006

When you are a witness in a court case, you can give your opinion as evidence if it helps you explain what you saw, heard, or felt. This means you can tell the court what you think if it is necessary to help them understand what happened. You can share your opinion if it helps the court make sense of your story.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM393599.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal help
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23: Opinion rule, or

"What people think can't be used as evidence in court, except in some special cases"

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25: Admissibility of expert opinion evidence, or

"When can an expert's opinion be used as evidence in court?"

Part 2Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality
Statements of opinion and expert evidence

24General admissibility of opinions

  1. A witness may state an opinion in evidence in a proceeding if that opinion is necessary to enable the witness to communicate, or the fact-finder to understand, what the witness saw, heard, or otherwise perceived.