Paciocco and Stuesser’s Law of Evidence, now in its sixth edition, is the most versatile text available on the Canadian law of evidence. The text has been cited and relied upon hundreds of times by courts of all levels across Canada, in both civil and criminal cases. It has also been adapted by the National Judicial Institute for their electronic bench book for trial judges. The new sixth edition carries on the practice in earlier editions of using new appellate level authorities to illustrate the law. Since publication of the fifth edition, the Supreme Court of Canada issued decisions in R. v. Grant and R. v. Harrison which represent a  large-scale revision of its section 24(2) jurisprudence. As a result, Chapter 9 of this edition has been thoroughly rewritten in order to fully explore  the impact of Grant and Harrison on the discretion to exclude evidence to preserve the fairness of a trial, in the absence of a Charter violation.

Summary Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

CHAPTER 2: The Basics of Admissibility and the Evaluation of Evidence

CHAPTER  3: Character Evidence: Primary Materiality

CHAPTER 4: Hearsay

CHAPTER 5: Hearsay Exceptions

CHAPTER 6: Opinion and Expert Evidence

CHAPTER 7: Privilege

CHAPTER 8: Self-incrimination

CHAPTER 9: Improperly Obtained Evidence

CHAPTER 10: Methods of Presenting Evidence

CHAPTER 11: Secondary Materiality and Your Own Witness

CHAPTER 12: Rules Relating to the Use of Admissible Evidence

CHAPTER 13: Conclusions

Table of Canadian Evidence Acts

Table of Cases

Index