Hearsay, Psychiatric Evidence and the Interests of Justice

The hearsay provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 have important implications for psychiatric evidence that relies on statements made by a patient (particularly where the patient is the defendant). The ambiguous common law rulings on such evidence have largely been superseded by the Act. Evidence which relies on the statements of a defendant who is fit to testify but elects not to do so should generally not be admitted unless the parties agree or the judge decides that it is in the interests of justice to admit the defendant's statements as hearsay.