The word Testimony means: the evidence
of a witness usually given in court and usually under oath.1The first source of
the proof of a crime or a right in islamic law is SHAHADA i.e Testimony
literally means: information of what one has witnessed or seen or beheld with
his eyes, declaration of what one knows, decisive information, it also means to
be present.
Technically means: to give true
information before a competent court of law what one has seen or known for the
purpose of proving or disproving a right or crime.2 The law of evidence
encompasses the rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a
legal proceeding, these rules determine what evidence must or must not be
considered by the trier of fact in reaching its decision and sometimes the
weight that may be given to that evidence. The law of evidence is also
concerned with the quantum (amount) quality of proof is how reliable such
evidence should be considered. This includes such concepts as hearsay
authentication, admissibility, reasonable doubt and clear and convincing
evidence.
There are several types of evidence,
depending on the form or source, evidence governs the use of testimony (e.g
oral or written statements, such asaffidavit), exhibits (e.g physical objects),
documentary material, or demonstrative evidence which are admissible i.e
allowed to be considered by the trier of fact, such as jury in a judicial or
administrative proceedings, e.g a court of law when a dispute whether relating
to a civil or criminal matter, reaches the court there will always be a number
of issues which one party will have to prove in order to persuade the court to
decide in his favour.The law must ensure certain guidelines are set out in
order to ensure that evidence presented to the court can be regarded as
trustworthy. In Nigerian law the rule of corroboration in criminal cases
requires that there must be two pieces of evidence, to prove each essential
fact, eventhough this corroboration requirement is no longer applies in civil
cases with the exception of some areas of family law, such as divorce, when
another individual not party to the marriage must act as witness. Also in
nigerian law, evidence that would otherwise be admissible at trial may be
excluded at the discretion of the trial judge if it would be unfair to the
defendant to admit it.
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Evidence of a confession may be excluded because it was
obtained by oppression or because the confession was made in consequence of
anything said or done to the defendant that would be likely to make the
confession unreliable. In these circumstances, it would be open to the trial
judge to exclude the evidence of the confession. Further the authentication
requirement has import primarily in jury trials, if evidence of authencity is
lacking in a bench trial, the trial judge will simply dismiss the evidence as
unpersuasive or irrelevant.
In systems of proof based on the
Nigerian law almost all evidence must be sponsored by a witness, who has sworn
or solemnly affirmed to tell the truth.
TOPIC: ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF TESTIMONY AS A MEANS OF PROOF IN NIGERIA
Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email
Delivery: Email
Number of Pages: 80
Price: 3000 NGN
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