Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Admissibility definition

What does Admissibility mean? Admissibility describes, in practical terms, whether—and to what extent—a court will allow evidence about a fact in issue to be received by the tribunal of fact (jury, judge or magistrates). The judge acts as gatekeeper, deciding admissibility by reference to relevance, specific rules of evidence (for example on hearsay, opinion/expert evidence, bad character, privilege and public interest immunity), and discretionary powers to exclude material where its probative value is outweighed by unfair prejudice or where admission would compromise a fair trial. Across England & Wales and Northern Ireland, admissibility is shaped by common law and statute, including the Police and Criminal...

Gateway C: Admitting Bad Character as Important Explanatory Evidence under the Criminal Justice Act 2003—Scope, Safeguards, Misuse and Key Cases (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

Criminal Justice Act 2003

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (CJA 2003) allows the admission of bad character evidence through several statutory gateways. One such route is where the material amounts to 'important explanatory evidence' (CJA 2003, s 101(1)(c)). This is commonly referred to as gateway C and is not confined to material adduced by the prosecution. However, this and the other statutory gateways only operate if the material falls within the CJA 2003, s 98 definition of 'bad character'. Bad character means evidence of, or a tendency towards, misconduct by the defendant, excluding material that relates to the offence charged or to misconduct involved in the investigation or prosecution of that offence. Misconduct is defined as committing any offence or other reprehensible behaviour. For instance, in R v Osbourne it was decided that evidence the defendant could be aggressive and shout when not taking his medication did not amount to 'bad character' under the CJA 2003 and had been wrongly admitted. See Practice Note: admissibility of defendant's bad character in criminal proceedings—What is bad character?...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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