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Changes to help vulnerable when giving evidence in court
Thursday, 27 November 2008
2:27:08 PM
CANBERRA, November 27, 2008: Children, Aboriginals and disabled people will be given more flexibility when giving evidence in court.
The Senate has passed a bill that will allow children and people with disabilities to provide narrative evidence, rather than by the customary question and answer format.
Evidence given by Indigenous Australians about traditional customs passed down orally will be recognised with changes to the hearsay rules.
And judges will be prevented from harassing or intimidating vulnerable witnesses during cross-examination.
Liberal Senator George Brandis, a former lawyer, said the Evidence Amendment Bill 2008, brings into effect a number of very important changes.
"To most people, I suspect, the rules of evidence would be a very dry and prosaic subject, but to me, as a lawyer, they are endlessly fascinating," Senator Brandis said.
"I regard the laws of evidence as being along with the symphonies of Beethoven ... or Einstein's general theory of relativity.
"This is ... a very, very important day, this is a very, very important bill." - AAP
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