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At a time when evidence in digital format has become a normal aspect of the large majority of legal proceedings across the globe--civil and criminal--this text by Hock Lai Ho is a timely addition to the literature on evidence and the legal process. The premise of the text is offered on page 1, that there is 'more of value in our common law heritage of evidential issues than the critics allow', and many of the rules express principles that are integral to the epistemic and ethical justification for the decisions reached in legal proceedings.
The underlying rationale of the book is that the finder of fact acts as a moral agent. Evidentiary findings by a court must, naturally, be justifiable; but Ho suggests that such findings must also meet the demands of epistemic rationality2 and ethics, and in so doing, reflect the interests of those participating in the justice system in seeking the truth and in doing justice. Ho's discussion centres on the adversarial trial, taking into account two standpoints: that of the finder of fact (internal), and that of the outsider (external). He addresses three features of the rules of evidence in detail: the standard of proof, the rule on hearsay evidence and the rule on similar fact evidence. After carefully considering and rejecting suggestions that such rules pose technical and unwarranted obstructions on the search for truth, Ho ultimately concludes that such rules further the court system's interest in obtaining truth and in doing justice.
The first two chapters are by way of introduction. Chapter 1 analyses certain aspects of fact finding that are considered to be fundamental, such as the role of facts and their classification and the major components taken into account in the deliberation of a trial, including the legal techniques employed in controlling the process. Chapter 2 then considers the values and purposes of the trial, and analyses the debate on the claim that the trial process seeks the truth, exploring the connection between truth and justice. This leads into chapter 3, which deals at length with the epistemic aspects of fact-finding, in which a belief account of fact-finding is discussed and defended, the acquisition of relevant beliefs is outlined, and the...