Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 118

Preservation of certain common law categories of admissibility

Part 11 Evidence

(1)The following rules of law are preserved.

Public information etc

1 Any rule of law under which in criminal proceedings—

(a)published works dealing with matters of a public nature (such as histories, scientific works, dictionaries and maps) are admissible as evidence of facts of a public nature stated in them,

(b)public documents (such as public registers, and returns made under public authority with respect to matters of public interest) are admissible as evidence of facts stated in them,

(c)records (such as the records of certain courts, treaties, Crown grants, pardons and commissions) are admissible as evidence of facts stated in them, or

(d)evidence relating to a person’s age or date or place of birth may be given by a person without personal knowledge of the matter.

Reputation as to character

2 Any rule of law under which in criminal proceedings evidence of a person’s reputation is admissible for the purpose of proving his good or bad character.

Note

The rule is preserved only so far as it allows the court to treat such evidence as proving the matter concerned.

Reputation or family tradition

3 Any rule of law under which in criminal proceedings evidence of reputation or family tradition is admissible for the purpose of proving or disproving—

(a)pedigree or the existence of a marriage,

(b)the existence of any public or general right, or

(c)the identity of any person or thing.

Note

The rule is preserved only so far as it allows the court to treat such evidence as proving or disproving the matter concerned.

Res gestae

4 Any rule of law under which in criminal proceedings a statement is admissible as evidence of any matter stated if—

(a)the statement was made by a person so emotionally overpowered by an event that the possibility of concoction or distortion can be disregarded,

(b)the statement accompanied an act which can be properly evaluated as evidence only if considered in conjunction with the statement, or

(c)the statement relates to a physical sensation or a mental state (such as intention or emotion).

Confessions etc

5 Any rule of law relating to the admissibility of confessions or mixed statements in criminal proceedings.

Admissions by agents etc

6 Any rule of law under which in criminal proceedings—

(a)an admission made by an agent of a defendant is admissible against the defendant as evidence of any matter stated, or

(b)a statement made by a person to whom a defendant refers a person for information is admissible against the defendant as evidence of any matter stated.

Common enterprise

7 Any rule of law under which in criminal proceedings a statement made by a party to a common enterprise is admissible against another party to the enterprise as evidence of any matter stated.

Expert evidence

8 Any rule of law under which in criminal proceedings an expert witness may draw on the body of expertise relevant to his field.

(2)With the exception of the rules preserved by this section, the common law rules governing the admissibility of hearsay evidence in criminal proceedings are abolished.

Definitions used in section 118 4

criminal proceedings

“criminal proceedings” means criminal proceedings in relation to which the strict rules of evidence apply;

Defined in s.134(1) · see it in the full Act
document

“document” means anything in which information of any description is recorded;

Defined in s.134(1) · see it in the full Act
the court

(2) In relation to such an application or reference, any reference to “the court” in section 269(2) to (5) and Schedule 21 is to be read as a reference to the High Court.

Defined in Sch.22 para.11(2) · see it in the full Act
defendant

“defendant”, in relation to criminal proceedings, means a person charged with an offence in those proceedings;

Defined in s.134(1) · see it in the full Act

Cases considering section 118 42

Regina v.Hayter (Appellant) (On Appeal from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division))

[2005] UKHL 6 · 3 February 2005

The dissent relied on the subsection’s preservation of common-law rules concerning confessions and mixed statements as evidence that alteration of the co-defendant rule should be left to Parliament.

R v Michael Shiel

[2026] EWCA Crim 386 · 27 March 2026Interprets

Interprets Section 118 as preserving the res gestae rule. A statement is admissible only if, in all the circumstances, the possibility of concoction or distortion can be disregarded. That test governed admission of the victim’s statements. (see paras [26]-[28]; [45]-[48])

R v Sylwester Danilowski

[2025] EWCA Crim 1279 · 24 July 2025

The court identified this provision as preserving the res gestae rule: hearsay is admissible where the maker was so emotionally overpowered by the event that the possibility of concoction or distortion can be disregarded (see para [2]).

22 more judgments, and what each says about section 118, are in the case-law panel in the full Act.

Explanatory note

411.This section preserves a number of common law exceptions to the old rule against the admission of hearsay evidence. The preservation of these rules means that in the specified circumstances, an out of court statement will be admissible as evidence of any matters stated in it. Many of these rules were also preserved under the corresponding civil evidence provisions in section 7 of the Civil Evidence Act 1995. The common law rules preserved in paragraphs (1) to (8) are as follows:

  • ‘Public information’ will be admissible. This includes published works; public documents; records of certain courts, treaties, Crown grants, pardons and commissions; evidence relating to a person’s age or date of birth;

  • ‘Reputation as to character’ will be admissible as evidence of a person’s good or bad character;

  • ‘Reputation or family tradition’ will be admissible as evidence to prove or disprove pedigree or the existence of marriage; a public or general right; or the identity of a person or thing.

  • ‘Res gestae’ will be admissible (this rule is explained below);

  • ‘Confessions’ will be admissible as long as they fulfil the requirements of sections 76, 76A and 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984;

  • ‘Admissions by agents’ will be admissible against the defendant as evidence of any fact stated.

  • The rule of ‘common enterprise’ is preserved. This means that a statement made by a party to a common enterprise will be admissible against another party to the enterprise as evidence of any matter stated. For example, if it is independently proved that A and B are involved in a joint enterprise to rob a jewellers’, any incriminating statements made by A will also be admissible against B.

  • The rule of ‘expert evidence’ is preserved. This permits an expert to give evidence of any relevant matter which forms part of his professional expertise (although not acquired through personal experience) and to draw upon technical information widely used by members of the expert’s profession.

412.Paragraph (4) preserves the common law rule known as “res gestae”. One justification for this exception is that reported words which are very closely connected to a relevant event are reliable accounts and should therefore be admissible in certain circumstances. Such statement may be admitted if one of the following conditions is met:the statement relates to a physical sensation or mental state, such as an intention or emotion.

  • the statement is made by a person who was so emotionally overpowered by an event that the possibility that he was lying can be disregarded;

  • the statement accompanied an act which can properly be evaluated as evidence only if considered together with the statement. For example, if the act doesn’t make sense without the statement; or

All the explanatory notes for the Act

Amendments and notes

1 notes from legislation.gov.uk

Commencement

  1. I73S. 118 wholly in force at 4.4.2005, see s. 336(3) and S.I. 2005/950, art. 2(1), Sch. 1 para. 6 (subject to art. 2(2), Sch. 2)