Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Evidence Act 2008 - SECT 85

Criminal proceedings-reliability of admissions by defendants

85. Criminal proceedings-reliability of admissions by defendants



(1) This section applies only in a criminal proceeding and only to evidence of
an admission made by a defendant-

   (a)  to, or in the presence of, an investigating official who at that time
        was performing functions in connection with the investigation of the
        commission, or possible commission, of an offence; or

   (b)  as a result of an act of another person who was, and who the defendant
        knew or reasonably believed to be, capable of influencing the decision
        whether a prosecution of the defendant should be brought or should be
        continued.

Note Subsection (1) was inserted as a response to the decision of the High
Court of Australia in Kelly v The Queen (2004) 218 CLR 216.

(2) Evidence of the admission is not admissible unless the circumstances in
which the admission was made were such as to make it unlikely that the truth
of the admission was adversely affected.

(3) Without limiting the matters that the court may take into account for the
purposes of subsection (2), it is to take into account-

   (a)  any relevant condition or characteristic of the person who made the
        admission, including age, personality and education and any mental,
        intellectual or physical disability to which the person is or appears
        to be subject; and

   (b)  if the admission was made in response to questioning-

   (i)  the nature of the questions and the manner in which they were put; and

   (ii) the nature of any threat, promise or other inducement made to the
        person questioned.