Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Evidence Act 1958 - SECT 41D

Evidence of previous representations made by child complainants

41D. Evidence of previous representations made by child complainants





(1) If, in a legal proceeding that relates (wholly or partly) to a charge for
a sexual offence, a child complainant who has made a previous representation
is available to give evidence-

   (a)  about the existence of a fact of which he or she had personal
        knowledge and that he or she intended to assert by the representation;
        or

   (b)  if the child complainant's credibility is relevant, to support his or
        her credibility-

the hearsay rule, subject to subsection (2), does not apply to evidence of the
representation that is given by-

   (c)  the child complainant; or

   (d)  a person who saw, heard or otherwise perceived the representation
        being made.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply unless the court is satisfied that the
evidence is relevant to a fact in issue and is sufficiently probative, having
regard to the nature and content of the representation and the circumstances
in which it was made.

(3) A witness has personal knowledge of the asserted fact if his or her
knowledge of that fact was, or might reasonably be supposed to have been,
based on something that the person saw, heard or otherwise perceived, other
than a previous representation made by another person about the fact.

(4) Evidence of the kind referred to in subsection (1) is admissible for
either or both of the following purposes-

   (a)  to prove the truth of the fact contained in the representation; or

   (b)  to support the credibility of the child complainant as a witness.

(5) If the court receives evidence of the kind referred to in subsection (1)
for the purpose referred to in subsection (4)(a), the court must warn the jury
that evidence of that kind may not be as reliable as original evidence.

(6) Nothing in this section takes away from, or limits, any discretion a court
has to exclude evidence.