The Practitioner's Evidence Law Sourcebook

This practice-oriented sourcebook, authored by a seasoned lawyer with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General and a Master of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, contains a comprehensive digest of Canadian evidence law. The book covers the law of evidence as applied in both civil and criminal proceedings, and captures general evidentiary principles contained in thousands of selected excerpts from case law and statutes, supplemented with authoritative commentary. By providing the key passages of actual cases and statutes (as opposed to a discussion of theory), this book serves as a practical research tool for students, litigators and adjudicators alike, well suited to the preparation of an opinion, argument or factum.

Special Features

• Provides an easy-to-understand explanation of the technical aspects of certain types of evidence, such as DNA, breathalyzer samples, fingerprints, document and handwriting analysis. Examines how certain types of evidence are used, and their strengths and weaknesses
• Contains key passages from leading cases and other primary authorities that deal with the evidentiary principles set out in the book; there's no need to look up a case to retrieve the actual words of the court
• Provides an international perspective on the law of evidence; the book refers to case law from other Commonwealth countries and the United States

What Makes This Book Unique?

• While most books discuss evidence law from a theoretical standpoint, this books focuses on the day-to-day use of evidence in the courts
• Covers every aspect of evidence, from expert witnesses to documentary evidence to criminal evidence
• This book gives ready access to statements of law and salient passages from relevant and leading cases, without the need to go to the library to perform hours of legal research to determine - or refresh one's memory of - first principles
• It provides such extensive extracts from the leading primary authorities.
• Easily portable
• Extremely practice-oriented: for example, this book provides sample questions for use in qualifying (or challenging the qualifications of) expert witnesses or the testimony given by them
• The book also provides the most common objections to certain types of evidence

Who Should Read This Book?

• Civil & criminal litigators - Litigation lawyers are often looking for a passage from the case law that stands for a particular evidentiary principle and a restatement of its applicability; this book fulfills that need
• Judges - Judges are frequently called to make rulings on evidence, sometimes without advanced warning. Judges will have at their fingertips a resource to permit them to reliably make comment on issues of evidence, with reference to seminal passages from the cases that inform that comment
• Law students - Broad overview of the law of evidence, covering both civil and criminal evidentiary principles, with a global perspective
• Law libraries - A valuable addition to any collection of law books dealing with the law of evidence
• Expert witnesses - Experts can learn how to be better witnesses: the book discusses, in a plain and succinct manner, how certain types of evidence are treated in court, and the strengths and weaknesses of such evidence