10. Preliminary Evidential Matters
Relevance, admissibility and weight, tribunals of fact and law, and common-law and PACE exclusion.
How to study for BSB Criminal Litigation
Prepare for a closed-book assessment by linking every power, gateway, burden, procedure and appellate route to its place in the criminal case.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Evidence must be relevant and admissible; the tribunal of fact then determines its weight unless a legal rule excludes it.
Exam cue: Ask relevance, admissibility and weight in that order.
Concept 2
Judges determine questions of law and admissibility, while magistrates or juries determine disputed facts within the applicable trial structure.
Exam cue: Identify who must decide the preliminary fact or legal issue.
Concept 3
Courts retain common-law powers and a statutory discretion under PACE section 78 to exclude qualifying prosecution evidence.
Exam cue: Separate exclusion of a confession under section 76 from exclusion of other prosecution evidence under section 78.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Calling unreliable evidence automatically inadmissible without identifying a rule.
Guardrail: Do not import a current-law change into the assessment merely because it post-dates the syllabus cut-off; use the latest BSB-issued syllabus or amendment for exam scope.
Inviting a jury to determine a voir dire or another legal admissibility question.
Guardrail: Do not import a current-law change into the assessment merely because it post-dates the syllabus cut-off; use the latest BSB-issued syllabus or amendment for exam scope.
Using section 78 as a general power to exclude defence evidence.
Guardrail: Do not import a current-law change into the assessment merely because it post-dates the syllabus cut-off; use the latest BSB-issued syllabus or amendment for exam scope.
Memory anchors
Three evidence questions
Is it relevant, is it admissible, and what weight should it receive?
Tribunal of law
The judge determines legal rules and admissibility issues.
Tribunal of fact
Magistrates or jury decide disputed facts and the weight of admitted evidence.
Common-law exclusion
The court retains limited powers to prevent unfairly prejudicial or improperly obtained evidence.
PACE section 78
Exclude prosecution evidence where admission would adversely affect fairness so significantly that it ought not be admitted.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
A witness gives evidence that has no tendency to make any fact in issue more or less probable. What is the primary objection?
Relevant evidence is admitted, but it comes from a hesitant witness with poor opportunity to observe. Who ordinarily assesses its weight?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
What is Pass Harbor?
Completely free exam prep for 247 UK exams.
- Practice questions
- Flashcards
- Study guides
- Mock exams
- No registration
- No paywall
- Start instantly
“No more expensive exam prep. Quality study tools should be accessible to everyone.”