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LEV 3701 LAW OF EVIDENCE 2023 REVISION EXAM PACK
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lOMoAR cPSD| 34199032LEV 3701 LAW OF EVIDENCE 2023
REVISION EXAM PACK
Question 1
(a) The law of evidence is unique, because it is part of the substantive law and the adjective
law.
(b) Section 42 of the Civil Proceedings Evidence Act 25 of 1965 is a residuary section and
provides that the law on the competence and compellability of witnesses, as well as the
examination and cross-examination of witnesses, which would have been applicable on
1 January 1994, will apply in any case where no provision has been made in terms of
the Civil Proceedings Evidence Act or in terms of any other South African legislation.
(c) Documentary evidence is the most common means of adducing (presenting) evidence.
(d) A witness is required to give independent oral testimony and is never permitted to rely
on, or refer to, an earlier record.
Answer 1
(1) Only statement (a) is correct.
(2) Only statements (a) and (b) are correct.
(3) Only statements (b), (c) and (d) are correct.
(4) Only statement (d) is correct.
(5) None of the statements is correct.
The correct answer is (5): None of the statements is correct. The correct answers can be found
at the following places in the study guide:
Statement (a): See paragraph 2.1.
Statement (b): See paragraph 3.3.
Statement (c): See paragraph 4.2.
Statement (d): See paragraph 4.2.1.4.
Question 2
, lOMoAR cPSD| 34199032
(a) After a witness has given evidence-in-chief, she is re-examined by the opponent of the
party who called her.
(b) In both criminal and civil cases, the court may call its own witnesses without the consent of
the parties involved.
(c) Judges and magistrates are considered to be incompetent witnesses with respect to those
cases over which they preside.
(d) The general rule in the common law was that the spouse of an accused person could not
testify for or against such an accused.
Answer 2
(1) Only statements (a) and (b) are correct.
(2) Only statement (b) is correct.
(3) Only statements (c) and (d) are correct.
(4) Only statements (a), (d) and (c) are correct.
(5) None of the statements is correct.
The correct answer is (3): Only statements (c) and (d) are correct. The correct answers can be
found at the following places in the study guide:
Statement (a): See Learning Unit 4.
Statement (b): See paragraph 4.3.
Statement (c): See paragraph 5.2.2.3.
Statement (d): See paragraph 5.3.1.
Question 3
(a) Section 195 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 is applicable not only to people who
are married when the giving of evidence is at stake, but also to people who were married
when the relevant crime was committed, even though the marriage has been dissolved in
the meantime.
(b) Section 195 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 has to some extent been amended
by section 68 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act
32 of 2007. Subsection 195(1)(a) now also includes a child that is in the care of the wife
or the husband of the accused and subsection 195(1)(e) now refers to incest as
, lOMoAR cPSD| 34199032
contemplated in section 12 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters)
Amendment Act 32 of 2007.
(c) In terms of section 196, the spouse of an accused is a competent as well as a compellable
witness in defence of that accused, but only when such an accused is jointly charged
with someone else.
(d) If the accused is jointly charged with someone else, the spouse of such an accused will be
competent to give evidence on behalf of that co-accused, but cannot be compelled to do
so.
Answer 3
(1) None of the statements is correct.
(2) Only statements (a), (b) and (d) are correct.
(3) Only statements (c) and (d) are correct.
(4) Only statement (d) is correct.
(5) Only statements (a) and (b) are correct.
The correct answer is (2): Only statements (a), (b) and (d) are correct. The correct answers
can be found at the following places in the study guide:
Statement (a): See paragraph 5.3.1.1.
Statement (b): See paragraph 5.3.1.1.
Statement (c): See paragraph 5.3.1.2.
Statement (d): See paragraph 5.3.3.
Question 4
(a) When fingerprints are used as evidence, an enlargement of the accused‟s fingerprint is
compared in court with that of a fingerprint found at the scene of the crime. If seven points
of similarity are found, this will usually amount to proof on a balance of probabilities that the
same person has made the two sets of prints.
(b) In the common law, public documents are admissible to prove the truth of what it contains.
This means that these are treated as an exception to the rule against the admissibility of
previous consistent statements.
(c) Even if evidence is highly relevant, a presiding officer has, in both civil and criminal cases,
a residual common law discretion to exclude unfairly (improperly) and also unlawfully
(illegally) obtained relevant evidence in order to reinforce overriding notions of fairness.
, lOMoAR cPSD| 34199032
(d) Substantive law states which facts have to be proved in a particular case.
Answer 4
(1) Only statement (a) is correct.
(2) Only statements (a) and (b) are correct.
(3) Only statements (c) and (d) are correct.
(4) Only statements (a), (b) and (d) are correct.
(5) All the statements are correct.
The correct answer is (3): Only statements (c) and (d) are correct. The correct answers can be
found at the following places in the study guide:
Statement (a): See paragraph 6.4.
Statement (b): See paragraph 7.5.
Statement (c): See paragraph 9.1.
Statement (d): See paragraph 2.1.
Question 5
(a) Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 protects an accused against
answering certain questions during cross-examination, but this protection falls away where
the accused gives evidence against any other person charged with the same offence or an
offence in respect of the same facts.
(b) When evidence about someone‟s character is important for purposes of the law of evidence,
the common law states that only evidence of the true nature of such a person may be
presented.
(c) The admissibility of evidence about the character of an accused is determined by a residuary
section.
(d) Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 protects an accused against
answering certain questions during cross-examination, but this protection falls away where
the accused is charged with the crime of receiving stolen property.
Answer 5
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