Book Review: Uniform Evidence Law – Text and Essential Cases (2nd Ed)

The first edition of this book was written by Peter Bayne and published in 2003.  Dr John Anderson of the University of Newcastle has taken on the task of rewriting and updating Mr Bayne’s original work.

The phrase “Uniform Evidence Law” refers, of course, to the virtually identical evidence legislation now in force in the Commonwealth jurisdiction and the State jurisdictions of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.  It seems unlikely that Queensland will adopt the uniform legislation, anytime soon.  The Queensland Law Reform Commission carried out a review of that legislation in 2005 but its Terms of Reference did not require it to advise on the action needed to facilitate its introduction into Queensland (as was the case in Victoria).  In any event, the Commission drew attention to provisions of the uniform legislation that differed substantially from the position in Queensland, noting they would require further review if Queensland were to consider adopting that legislation.  Consequently, this book review will probably only be of interest to those practising in the federal jurisdiction.

The book is “designed primarily as a tool for teaching and learning [the] principles of the law of evidence in the context of a tertiary level course.”  It has the features that one would expect of a text produced for that purpose, namely, it is clear and easy to follow.  However, the book is more than just a simple ‘starter’ for students.  It is thoughtful and detailed.  Whilst one would not expect a huge amount of case law on legislation that has only been in place since 1995, the authors have commendably compiled a healthy number of decisions.  The case extracts are concise and relevant.

From a practitioner’s standpoint, the main competition for this book would be Uniform Evidence Law by Stephen Odgers S.C., which is into its eighth edition (it also comes in a loose-leaf format).  As Dr Anderson and Mr Bayne point out, the two books perform different functions.  Mr Odgers’ work is longer and annotates every provision of the uniform evidence legislation. Dr Anderson and Mr Bayne’s text does not do this.  It concentrates, instead, on explaining the fundamental principles of evidence law.  The chapters follow a logical progression, beginning with the most basic concepts.⁴

It is probably fair to say that Mr Odgers’ book is considered to be the leading text on this topic.  However, its annotated layout may not be to the liking of some.  If so, one could do worse than pick up a copy of Dr Anderson and Mr Bayne’s treatise.  It is a well-written, scholarly work that could be cited with confidence in any federal court and I commend it to practitioners on that basis.

Christopher Crawford

Footnotes

1. A profile of Dr. Anderson may be found at http://www.newcastle.edu.au/staff/profile/john.anderson.html

2. 

Details concerning Mr. Bayne may be seen at http://www.irwinlaw.com/store/author/326/peter-bayne.                  

3. The publisher’s web page for the text is at 

http://www.federationpress.com.au/bookstore/book.asp?isbn=9781862877450.

4.  The chapter titles are, in order: Relevance and Fact-Finding, Some Basics about Trials and Appeals, Resolving Factual Uncertainty, Exclusion of Admissible Evidence and Limiting Directions, Witnesses and Privileges, The Course of the Trial, Documentary and Real Evidence, The Hearsay Rules, Opinion Evidence, Admissions, Estoppels and Convictions and Judgments as Evidence, The Credibility of a Witness, The Character of the Accused, Tendency and Coincidence Evidence and Identification Evidence.