Evidence Act 1983

c i e
AT 7 of 1983

EVIDENCE ACT 1983

Evidence Act 1983 Index


c AT 7 of 1983 Page 3

c i e
EVIDENCE ACT 1983

Index Section Page

PART I – CIVIL EVIDENCE 5

1 [Repealed] ........................................................................................................................ 5
2 Rules of court with respect to expert reports and oral expert evidence ................. 5
3 Admissibility of expert opinion and certain expressions of non-expert
opinion ............................................................................................................................. 6
4 Evidence of foreign law ................................................................................................. 6
5 Interpretation, application to arbitrations etc and savings ....................................... 8
PART II – CRIMINAL EVIDENCE 8

6 Proof of criminal intent .................................................................................................. 8
7 Notice of alibi .................................................................................................................. 8
PART III – MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 10

8 Amendments ................................................................................................................. 10
9 [Repealed] ...................................................................................................................... 10
10 Short title and commencement ................................................................................... 10
SCHEDULES 1 AND 2 11

SCHEDULE 3 11

ENDNOTES 13

TABLE OF LEGISLATION HISTORY 13
TABLE OF RENUMBERED PROVISIONS 13
TABLE OF ENDNOTE REFERENCES 13

Evidence Act 1983 Section 1


c AT 7 of 1983 Page 5

c i e
EVIDENCE ACT 1983

Received Royal Assent: 29 April 1983
Passed: 17 May 1983
Commenced: 1 January 1984
AN ACT
to amend the law relating to evidence in civil and criminal
proceedings and for connected purposes.
PART I – CIVIL EVIDENCE

1 [Repealed]
1

2 Rules of court with respect to expert reports and oral expert evidence

(1) and (2) [Repealed]2

(3) Notwithstanding any enactment or rule of law by virtue of which
documents prepared for the purpose of pending or contemplated civil
proceedings or in connection with obtaining or giving of legal advice are
in certain circumstances privileged from disclosure, provision may be
made by rules of court —
(a) for enabling the court in any civil proceedings to direct, with
respect to medical matters or matters of any other class which
may be specified in the direction, that the parties or some of them
shall each by such date as may be so specified (or such later date
as may be permitted or agreed in accordance with the rules)
disclose to the other or others in the form of one or more expert
reports the expert evidence on matters of that class which he
proposes to adduce as part of his case at the trial; and

(b) for prohibiting a party who fails to comply with a direction given
in any such proceedings under rules of court made by virtue of
paragraph (a) from adducing in evidence, except with the leave of
the court, any statement (whether of fact or opinion) contained in
Section 3 Evidence Act 1983


Page 6 AT 7 of 1983 c

any expert report whatsoever in so far as that statement deals
with matters of any class specified in the direction.3

(4) Provision may be made by rules of court as to the conditions subject to
which oral expert evidence may be given in civil proceedings.
(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4), rules of court made
in pursuance of that subsection may make provision for prohibiting a
party who fails to comply with a direction given as mentioned in
subsection (3)(b) from adducing, except with the leave of the court, any
oral expert evidence whatsoever with respect to matters of any class
specified in the direction.
(6) Any rules of court made in pursuance of this section may make different
provision for different classes of cases, for expert reports dealing with
matters of different classes, and for other different circumstances.
(7) References in this section to an expert report are references to a written
report by a person dealing wholly or mainly with matters on which he is
(or would if living be) qualified to give expert evidence.
(8) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall prejudice the
generality of any other enactment conferring power to make rules of
court; and nothing in any other enactment restricting the matters with
respect to which rules of court may be made shall prejudice the making
of rules of court in pursuance of this section or the operation of any rules
of court so made.4

3 Admissibility of expert opinion and certain expressions of non-expert

opinion

[P1972/30/3]
(1) Subject to any rules of court made in pursuance of this Act, where a
person is called as a witness in any civil proceedings, his opinion on any
relevant matter on which he is qualified to give expert evidence shall be
admissible in evidence.5

(2) It is hereby declared that where a person is called as a witness in any
civil proceedings, a statement of opinion by him on any relevant matter
on which he is not qualified to give expert evidence, if made as a way of
conveying relevant facts personally perceived by him, is admissible as
evidence of what he perceived.
(3) In this section ‘relevant matter’ includes an issue in the proceedings in
question.
4 Evidence of foreign law

[P1972/30/4]
(1) It is hereby declared that in civil proceedings a person who is suitably
qualified to do so on account of his knowledge or experience is
Evidence Act 1983 Section 4


c AT 7 of 1983 Page 7

competent to give expert evidence as to the law of any country or
territory outside the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom, or any part of
the United Kingdom other than England and Wales, irrespective of
whether he has acted or is entitled to act as a legal practitioner there.
(2) Where any question as to the law of any country or territory outside the
Isle of Man and the United Kingdom, or of any part of the United
Kingdom other than England and Wales, with respect to any matter has
been determined (whether before or after the passing of this Act) in any
such proceedings as are mentioned in subsection (4), then in any civil
proceedings (not being proceedings before a court which can take
judicial notice of the law of that country, territory or part with respect to
that matter) —
(a) any finding made or decision given on that question in the first-
mentioned proceedings shall, if reported or recorded in citable
form, be admissible in evidence for the purpose of proving the
law of that country, territory or part with respect to that matter;
and
(b) if that finding or decision, as so reported or recorded, is adduced
for that purpose, the law of that country, territory or part with
respect to that matter shall be taken to be in accordance with that
finding or decision unless the contrary is proved:
Provided that paragraph (b) shall not apply in the case of a finding or
decision which conflicts with another finding or decision on the same
question adduced by virtue of this subsection in the same proceedings.
(3) Except with the leave of the court, a party to any civil proceedings shall
not be permitted to adduce any such finding or decision as is mentioned
in subsection (2) by virtue of that subsection unless he has in accordance
with rules of court given to every other party to the proceedings notice
that he intends to do so.
(4) The proceedings referred to in subsection (2) are the following, whether
civil or criminal, namely —
(a) proceedings at first instance in either of the following courts,
namely the High Court and the Court of General Gaol Delivery;
(b) appeals arising out of any such proceedings as are mentioned in
paragraph (a);
(c) any proceedings in the Supreme Court of Judicature in England
and any judicial proceedings in the House of Lords;
(d) proceedings before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
on appeal (whether to Her Majesty in Council or to the Judicial
Committee as such) from any decision of any court inside or
outside the Isle of Man.
(5) For the purposes of this section a finding or decision on any such
question as is mentioned in subsection (2) shall be taken to be reported or
Section 5 Evidence Act 1983


Page 8 AT 7 of 1983 c

recorded in citable form if, but only if, it is reported or recorded in
writing in a report, transcript or other document which, if that question
had been a question as to the law of the Isle of Man or England and
Wales, could be cited as an authority in legal proceedings in the Isle of
Man or England and Wales.
5 Interpretation, application to arbitrations etc and savings

[P1972/30/5]
(1) In this Part “civil proceedings
” means civil proceedings, before any
tribunal, in relation to which the strict rules of evidence apply, whether
as a matter of law or by agreement of the parties; and references to “the

court
” shall be construed accordingly.6

(2) The rules of court made for the purposes of the application of sections 2
and 4 of this Act to proceedings in the High Court apply, except in so far
as their application is excluded by agreement, to proceedings before
tribunals other than the ordinary courts of law, subject to such
modifications as may be appropriate.7

(3) Any question arising as to what modifications are appropriate under
subsection (2) shall be determined, in default of agreement, by the
tribunal.8

PART II – CRIMINAL EVIDENCE

6 Proof of criminal intent

[P1967/80/8]
A court or jury, in determining whether a person has committed an offence —
(a) shall not be bound in law to infer that he intended or foresaw a
result of his actions by reason only of its being a natural and
probable consequence of those actions; but
(b) shall decide whether he did intend or foresee that result by
reference to all the evidence, drawing such inferences from the
evidence as appear proper in the circumstances.
7 Notice of alibi

[P1967/80/11]
(1) On a trial on information the defendant shall not without the leave of the
court adduce evidence in support of an alibi unless, before the end of the
prescribed period he gives notice of particulars of the alibi.
(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1), on any such trial the defendant shall
not without the leave of the court call any other person to give such
evidence unless —
Evidence Act 1983 Section 7


c AT 7 of 1983 Page 9

(a) the notice under that subsection includes the name and address of
the witness or, if the name or address is not known to the
defendant at the time he gives the notice, any information in his
possession which might be of material assistance in finding the
witness;
(b) if the name or the address is not included in that notice, the court
is satisfied that the defendant, before giving the notice, took and
thereafter continued to take all reasonable steps to secure that the
name or address would be ascertained;
(c) if the name or the address is not included in that notice, but the
defendant subsequently discovers the name or address or receives
other information which might be of material assistance in finding
the witness, he forthwith gives notice of the name, address or
other information, as the case may be; and
(d) if the defendant is notified by or on behalf of the prosecutor that
the witness has not been traced by the name or at the address
given, he forthwith gives notice of any such information which is
then in his possession or, on subsequently receiving any such
information, forthwith gives notice of it.
(3) The court shall not refuse leave under this section if it appears to the
court that the defendant was not informed in accordance with rules
under section 91 of the Summary Jurisdiction Act 1989 of the requirements
of this section.9

(4) Any evidence tendered to disprove an alibi may, subject to any
directions by the court as to the time it is to be given, be given before or
after evidence is given in support of the alibi.
(5) Any notice purporting to be given under this section on behalf of the
defendant by his advocate shall, unless the contrary is proved, be
deemed to be given with the authority of the defendant.
(6) A notice under subsection (1) shall either be given in court during, or at
the end of, the proceedings before the examining justices or be given in
writing to the Attorney General, and a notice under paragraph (c) or (d)
of subsection (2) shall be given in writing to the Attorney General.
(7) A notice required by this section to be given to the Attorney General may
be given by delivering it to him, or by leaving it at his office, or by
sending it in a registered letter or by the recorded delivery service
addressed to him at his office.
(8) In this section —
‘evidence in support of an alibi’ means evidence tending to show that by reason
of the presence of the defendant at a particular place or in a particular
area at a particular time he was not, or was unlikely to have been, at the
place where the offence is alleged to have been committed at the time of
its alleged commission;
Section 8 Evidence Act 1983


Page 10 AT 7 of 1983 c

‘the prescribed period’ means the period of seven days from the end of the
proceedings before a court of summary jurisdiction at which the
defendant was committed for trial.
(9) In computing the said period a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, a
day which is a bank holiday under the Bank Holidays Act 1989 or a day
appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning shall be disregarded.10

PART III – MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

8 Amendments

The enactments mentioned in Schedule 2 shall be amended in accordance with
that Schedule.
9 [Repealed]
11

10 Short title and commencement

This Act may be cited as the Evidence Act 1983 and shall come into operation on
such day as the Governor in Council may by order appoint; and different days
may be so appointed for different purposes or for the same purposes in relation
to different courts or proceedings or otherwise in relation to different
circumstances.12

Evidence Act 1983 Schedules 1 and 2



c AT 7 of 1983 Page 11

SCHEDULES 1 AND 2
13

SCHEDULE 3
14

Evidence Act 1983 Endnotes


c AT 7 of 1983 Page 13

ENDNOTES

Table of Legislation History

Legislation Year and No Commencement






Table of Renumbered Provisions

Original Current






Table of Endnote References

1
S 1 repealed by Administration of Justice Act 2008 Sch 1. 2
Subss (1) and (2) repealed by Administration of Justice Act 2008 Sch 1. 3
Para (b) amended by Administration of Justice Act 2008 Sch 1. 4
Subs (8) amended by High Court Act 1991 Sch 5. 5
Subs (3) amended by Administration of Justice Act 2008 Sch 1. 6
Subs (1) substituted by Administration of Justice Act 2008 Sch 1. 7
Subs (2) substituted by Administration of Justice Act 2008 Sch 1. 8
Subs (3) substituted by Administration of Justice Act 2008 Sch 1. 9
Subs (3) amended by Summary Jurisdiction Act 1989 Sch 5. 10
Subs (9) amended by Statute Law Revision Act 1997 Sch 1. 11
S 9 repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1992 Sch 2. 12
ADO (whole Act) 1/1/1984 (GC263/83). 13
Schs 1 and 2 repealed by Summary Jurisdiction Act 1989 Sch 6. 14
Sch 3 repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1992 Sch 2.