Evidence

• Author: M.H. Ogilvie
• Pages: 197-206

Chapter

Seven

Evidence

A.

INTRODUCTION

Telling

the

truth,

no

matter

the

consequences,

is an

ideal propounded

by

many

religions,

often

backed

by the

threat

of

ultimate sanctions

to be

determined

by God who is

presented

as a

rewarder

of

truth

and an

avenger

of

falsehood.

For

Jews, Christians,

and

Muslims,

the

religious

obligation

to

tell

the

truth

is

found

in the

Ninth

Commandment,1

and the

Anglo-Canadian

common

law

reflects

both that injunction

and the

divine

sanction that backs

it in a

number

of

rules

of

evidence.

Two of

these have

particular bearing

on the law

relating

to

religious institutions. Originally,

the

common

law

required

all

evidence

to be

given under oath

on the

assumption that

no

person would tempt divine retribution

by

telling

lies.

Again,

the

common

law

after

the

Reformation

has

historically been reluc-

tant

to

grant

an

absolute privilege

to

protect communications made with-

in the

context

of

confession

to a

clergyperson

because

of the

overriding

policy

of

doing justice

in

this world

by

punishing

those

who

break

the

law

of

God, which once constituted

the

core

of the

criminal law.

While giving evidence under oath

and

privileged communications

are

the

evidentiary issues relating

to

religion most considered

by the

1

Exodus

20:16:

"You

shall

not

bear

false

witness

against

your

neighbour." (New

Revised

Standard

Version

-

N.R.S.V).

197