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Evidence Act 2006

Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality - Veracity and propensity - Evidence of propensity

41: Propensity evidence about defendants

You could also call this:

"When defendants share past behaviour to help their case in court"

Illustration for Evidence Act 2006

If you are a defendant in a criminal case, you can give evidence about yourself that shows a pattern of behaviour. This is called propensity evidence and it is about you. You can choose to give this evidence to help your case.

If you give propensity evidence about yourself, the other side, like the prosecution, might also want to give evidence about you. They need to ask the Judge for permission to do this. The Judge will decide if they can give this evidence.

There is another rule, in Section 43, that does not apply if the prosecution gives propensity evidence about you after you have given evidence about yourself.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM393631.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpCrime and justice > Criminal law
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40: Propensity rule, or

"A rule about using past behaviour as evidence in court"

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42: Propensity evidence about co-defendants, or

"Talking about what a co-defendant has done before in your defence"

Part 2Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality
Veracity and propensity: Evidence of propensity

41Propensity evidence about defendants

  1. A defendant in a criminal proceeding may offer propensity evidence about himself or herself.

  2. If a defendant offers propensity evidence about himself or herself, the prosecution or another party may, with the permission of the Judge, offer propensity evidence about that defendant.

  3. Section 43 does not apply to propensity evidence offered by the prosecution under subsection (2).