HEARSAY testimony will be admitted in civil proceedings if wide-ranging changes recommended by the Law Reform Commission are approved.
The reforms would make hearings more just, quicker,and more efficient, the commission said yesterday.
However, they will not be extended to the criminal courts where a higher standard of proof is required.
The proposals are modelled on legal procedures in the UK and will permit a judge to determine what weight to place on evidence derived from a secondary source.
If a jury is sitting, the judge will direct it on the evidence's reliability.
Senior Crown Counsel Thomas Leung Moon-keung said: 'More justice will be done, because if we have hearsay evidence, we will have everything from which to make a decision. You can put into evidence all of the relevant information: the court then gets a full picture and knows exactly what is going on.' The changes flow from a consultation paper in August 1992, and follow strong legal criticism of the courts' inflexibility.