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Evidence Act 2006

Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality - Defendants’ statements, improperly obtained evidence, silence of parties in proceedings, and admissions in civil proceedings

29: Exclusion of statements influenced by oppression

You could also call this:

"When someone was mean or scary to you, a Judge can stop the police from using what you said as evidence."

Illustration for Evidence Act 2006

If you are in a criminal court case and the police want to use something you said as evidence, you can ask the Judge if what you said was influenced by someone being mean or scary to you. The Judge will look at what happened when you made the statement and decide if it is okay to use it as evidence. The Judge must make sure you were not treated badly or forced to say something.

When the Judge is deciding, they will think about how you were feeling and if you have any disabilities. They will also think about the questions you were asked and how they were asked. The Judge wants to know if someone made threats or promises to you.

In this situation, being treated badly means being treated in a way that is violent, unfair, or degrading. It can also mean someone threatened to treat you or someone else badly. The Judge has to be really sure that you were not treated badly before they can use what you said as evidence.

It does not matter if what you said is true or not, the Judge just wants to make sure you were treated fairly. You can find more information about changes to this law in the Evidence Amendment Act 2007.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM393607.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpCrime and justice > Criminal law
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28: Exclusion of unreliable statements, or

"When You Said Something, the Judge Decides If It's Reliable Enough to Use in Court"

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30: Improperly obtained evidence, or

"When evidence is collected unfairly or illegally, the court decides whether to use it in a trial."

Part 2Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality
Defendants’ statements, improperly obtained evidence, silence of parties in proceedings, and admissions in civil proceedings

29Exclusion of statements influenced by oppression

  1. This section applies to a criminal proceeding in which the prosecution offers or proposes to offer a statement of a defendant if—

  2. the defendant or, if applicable, a co-defendant against whom the statement is offered raises, on the basis of an evidential foundation, the issue of whether the statement was influenced by oppression and informs the Judge and the prosecution of the grounds for raising the issue; or
    1. the Judge raises the issue of whether the statement was influenced by oppression and informs the prosecution of the grounds for raising the issue.

      1. The Judge must exclude the statement unless satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the statement was not influenced by oppression.

      2. For the purpose of applying this section, it is irrelevant whether or not the statement is true.

      3. Without limiting the matters that a Judge may take into account for the purpose of applying subsection (2), the Judge must, in each case, take into account any of the following matters that are relevant to the case:

      4. any pertinent physical, mental, or psychological condition of the defendant when the statement was made (whether apparent or not):
        1. any pertinent characteristics of the defendant including any mental, intellectual, or physical disability to which the defendant is subject (whether apparent or not):
          1. the nature of any questions put to the defendant and the manner and circumstances in which they were put:
            1. the nature of any threat, promise, or representation made to the defendant or any other person.

              1. In this section, oppression means—

              2. oppressive, violent, inhuman, or degrading conduct towards, or treatment of, the defendant or another person; or
                1. a threat of conduct or treatment of that kind.

                  Notes
                  • Section 29(1)(a): amended, on , by section 8 of the Evidence Amendment Act 2007 (2007 No 24).