Report No. 69
IV. English Act of 1968
16.58. Recent Act in England.-
In England, by statute, the common law rule has been changed, and the following provisions have been inserted on the subject1 by the Act of 1968:
"11. Conviction as evidence in civil proceedings.
(1) In any civil proceedings the fact that a person has been convicted of an offence by or before any court in the United Kingdom or by a court-martial there or elsewhere shall [subject to sub-section (3) below] be admissible in evidence for the purpose of proving, where to do so is relevant to any issue in there proceedings, that he committed that offence, whether he was so convicted upon a plea of guilty or otherwise and whether or not he is a party to the civil proceedings; but no conviction other than a subsisting one shall be admissible in evidence by virtue of this section.
(2) In any civil proceedings in which by virtue of this section a person is proved to have been convicted of an offence by or before any court in the United Kingdom or by a court-martial there or elsewhere he shall be taken to have committed that offence unless the contrary is proved; and
(b) without prejudice to the reception of any other admissible evidence for the purpose of identifying the facts on which the conviction was based, the contents of any document which is admissible as evidence of the conviction, and the contents of the information, complaint, in-dictment or charge-sheet on which the person in question was con-victed, shall be admissible in evidence for that purpose.
(3) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the operation of section 13 of thii Act or any other enactment whereby a conviction or a finding of fact in any criminal proceedings is for the purpose of any other proceedings made conclusive evidence of any fact.
(4) Where in any civil proceedings the contents of any document are admissible in evidence by virtue of sub-section (2) above, a copy of that document, or of the material part thereof, purporting to be certified or the court or authority having custody of that document shall be admissible in evidence and shall be taken to be a true copy of that document or party unless the contrary is shown.
(5) Nothing in any of the following enactment, that is to say-
(a) section 12 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1948 (under which a convic-tion leading to probation or discharge is to be disregarded except as therein mentioned);
(b) section 9 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1949 (which makes similar provision in respect of convictions on indictment in Scot-land); and
(c) section 8 of the Probation Act (Northern Ireland) 1950 (which cor-responds to the said section 12) or any corresponding enactment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for the time being in force,
shall affect the operation of this section; and for the purpose of this section any order made by a court of summary jurisdiction in Scotland under section 1 or section 2 of the said Act of 1949 shall be treated as a conviction.
(6) In this section "court-martial" means a court-martial constituted under the Army Act, 1955, the Air Force Act, 1955 or the Naval Discipline Act, 1957 or a disciplinary court constituted under section 50 of the said Act of 1957, and in relation to a court-martial "conviction", as regards a court-martial constituted under either of the said Acts of 1955, means a finding of guilty which is, or falls to be treated as a finding of the court
1. Sections 11 to 13, Civil Evidence Act, 1968.
"12. Findings of adultery and maternity an evidence in Civil proceedings.
(1) In any civil proceedings-
(a) the fact that a person has been found guilty of adultery in any matrimonial proceedings; and
(b) the fact that a person has been adjudged to be the father of a child in affiliation proceedings before any court in the United Kingdom, shall [subject to sub-section (3) below] be admissible in evidence for the purpose of proving, where to do so is relevant to any issue in those civil proceedings, that he committed the adultery to which the finding relates or, as the case may be, is (or was) the father of that child, whether or not he offered any defence to the allegation of adultery or paternity and whether or not he is a party to the civil proceedings; but no finding or adjudication other than a subsisting one shall be admissible in evidence by virtue of this section.
(2) In any civil proceedings in which by virtue of this section a person is proved to have been found guilty of adultery as mentioned in sub-section (1)(a) above or to have been adjudged to be the father of a child as mentioned in sub-section (1)(b) above-
(a) he shall be taken to have committed the adultery to which the finding relates or, as the case may be, to be (or have been) the father of that child, unless the contrary is proved; and
(b) without prejudice to the reception of any other admissible evidence for the purpose of identifying the facts on which the finding or adjudication was based, the contents of any document which was before the court, or which contains any pronouncement of the court, in the matrimonial or affiliation proceedings in question shall be admissible in evidence for that purpose.
(3) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the operation of any enactment whereby a finding of fact in any matrimonial or affiliation proceedings is for the purposes of any other proceedings made conclusive evidence of any fact.
(4) Sub-section (4) of section 11 of this act shall apply for the purposes of this section as if the reference to sub-section (2) were a reference to sub-section (2) of this section.
(5) In this section-
"matrimonial proceedings" means any matrimonial cause in the High court or a country court in England and Wales or in the High Court in Northern Ireland, any consistorial action in Scotland, or any appeal arising out of any such cause or action;
"affiliation proceedings" means, in relation to Scotland, any action of affiliation and ailment; and in this sub-section "consistorial action" does not include an action of ailment only between husband and wife raised in the Court of Session or an action of interim ailment raised in the Sheriff court."
"Conclusiveness of convictions for purposes of defamation actions-
(1) In an action for libel or slander in which the question whether a person did or did not commit a criminal offence is relevant to an issue arising in the action, proof that, at the time when that issue falls to be determined, that person stands convicted of that offence shall be conclusive evidence that he committed that offence; and his conviction thereof shall be admissible in evidence accordingly.
(2) In any such action as aforesaid in which, by virtue of this section, a person is proved to have been convicted of an offence, the contents of any document which is admissible as evidence of the conviction, and the contents of the information, complaint, indictment or charge-sheet on which that person was convicted, shall, without prejudice to the reception of any other admissible evidence for the purpose of identifying the facts on which the conviction was based, be admissible in evidence for the purpose of identifying those facts.
(3) For the purposes of this section a person shall be taken to stand convicted of an offence if but only if there subsists against him a conviction of that offence by or before a court in the United Kingdom or by a court-martial there or elsewhere.
(4) Sub-sections (4) to (6) of section 11 of this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section, but as if in the said sub-section (4) the reference to sub-section (2) were a refe-rence to sub-section (2) of this section.
(5) The foregoing provisions of this section shall apply for the purpose of any action begun after the passing of this Act, whenever the cause of action, arose, but shall not apply for the purposes of any action begun before the passing of this Act of any appeal or other proceedings arising out of any such action."
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