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Evidence Act 2006

Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality - Evidence of convictions and civil judgments

48: Conviction as evidence in defamation proceedings

You could also call this:

"Using a past conviction as proof in a defamation court case"

Illustration for Evidence Act 2006

If you say someone has committed a crime and they take you to court for defamation, you can use their conviction as proof that they did commit the crime. This proof is final if the person was already convicted when you made the statement. You can also use the conviction as proof if the person is still convicted at the time of the court case.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM393643.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal help
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47: Conviction as evidence in civil proceedings, or

"A conviction can be used as proof someone did something wrong in a civil court case."

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49: Conviction as evidence in criminal proceedings, or

"Using a past conviction as proof of guilt in a criminal trial"

Part 2Admissibility rules, privilege, and confidentiality
Evidence of convictions and civil judgments

48Conviction as evidence in defamation proceedings

  1. In a proceeding for defamation that is based on a statement to the effect that a person has committed an offence, proof that the person has been convicted of the offence is conclusive proof that the person committed the offence if the conviction—

  2. subsisted at the time that the statement was made; or
    1. subsists at the time of the proceeding.