After watching the video, I found that the Evidence Act 1950 is silent on the matter of real evidence even though it can be refer to S.60(3) the said act which provided that if oral evidence refers to the existence or condition of any material thing including a document, the court may, if it thinks fit, require the production of that material thing or the document for its inspection.
Besides that, for any inspection of the real evidence, all parties must be present. As in the case of Harban Singh v R, where the court ordered a retrial when a Magistrate viewed the scene with the prosecutor but not with the accused or his counsel.
in Lee It Leo v R, the court stated that where real evidence is adduced by the prosecution as an exhibit it is necessary for it to show the full history of that exhibit from the time it first came into police custody until it is produces in court.
some of the authorities used relating to the real evidence. :)
Syarifah Dewi Siti Fatimah Bt Syed Ahmad Fahmi Wafa
A132813
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Azweena Azhar
11/7/2013 10:14:48 pm
Eddy, first of all, thank you for commenting. Secondly, you also mentioned a few authorities which is relating the real evidence, so thanks for that as well.
If i may add another case on top of those you have given, the learned judge in Tuborg (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd v PP also stated that failure to produce the subject matter of the charge in court is not fatal (emphasis here) as long as there is enough evidence to support the prosecution case. 'Enough evidence' here would refer to real evidence.
Nur Azweena binti Azhar
A133244
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Naa Azimi
11/7/2013 01:31:32 am
Thanks for the info ! I would like to add a little bit on the documentary evidence. As what has been said by one of the students in the video above, documentary evidence may be found in Sections 61 until 66 of the Evidence Act 1950. These group of sections deals with private documents. However, for public documents, the provision can be found in Section 74 until 78 of the same Act. The contents of those documents may be proved either by primary or by secondary evidence.
Lord Esher MR in the case of Lucas v Williams & Sons made a distinction between primary and secondary evidence. He states that primary evidence is evidence which the law requires to be given first; secondary evidence is evidence which may be given in the absence of the better evidence which the law requires to be given first, when a proper explanation of its absence has been given.
Nur Ainaa binti Azimi
A132703
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Azweena Azhar
11/7/2013 10:20:17 pm
You're welcome, Aina. I'm glad you took some time to listen to this short video. Your explanation on the documentary evidence, primary evidence as well as secondary evidence was quite simple yet comprehensive. So, thank you for your feedback on this matter, I really appreciate it.
Nur Azweena binti Azhar
A133244
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Ong Swee Eng
11/10/2013 05:09:18 pm
I would like to say that I couldn't agree more for what Eddy mentioned above where our Evidence Act 1950 is silent on the matter regarding the real evidence. Even so, it does not mean that the Act does not allow for the real evidence to be taken into account in a case to be proven. Besides, the real evidence also refers when the court made an observation and make an inference such as whether the object was material to the case, the appearance, intonation and so forth before come into a conclusion based on perceptions, not on the witnesses.
Ong Swee Eng
A132709
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Norehan
12/15/2013 05:03:54 am
i would like to add some information regarding the general requirement on the documentary evidence. First, the genuineness of the document must be proven by calling the author or any person who can prove its authenticity as a witness. Second, the original of the writing is the best evidence to prove the contents of a writing document. A lengthy document can be attests as to their meaning by a witness who had studied its full contents to save the court's time. Oral testimony intended to explain the meaning of a document is admissible. Lastly, a needed document that is not in the custody of the party desiring to introduce it may be produced in court by serving a subpoena on the holder.