Prepare for a criminal trial

What you need to prepare

You must produce evidence in support of your defence at your hearings. This is because the judge can only consider evidence presented in court.

During the trial, the judge will hear the evidence produced by you and the prosecution. The accuracy and credibility of both parties' evidence helps the judge determine what happened in the case, and if you are guilty of the charges against you.

Types of evidence

Evidence which can be presented in court by you or the prosecution, subject to the court's discretion, include:

• Documents.
• Photographs.
• Items and objects.
• Witness statements and testimonies.
• Sound and video recordings.
• Digital records and computer printouts. This also includes social media sources such as Whatsapp and Facebook messages.

How to prepare your evidence

You should prepare your evidence in advance. This is important as the court may ask you and the prosecution to submit any evidence before the actual trial date.

Make copies of your evidence

For your evidence to be considered, you will need to:

• Bring the original evidence and 3 copies of it to court. The original copy will be submitted to the court, while each of the other copies will be provided to the prosecution and your witness (if necessary), with one copy kept by you.
• Call the author of any document you plan to submit as evidence as witness. Otherwise, the document may not be admitted as evidence for the trial.
  
  • You may apply for a Summons to a Witness if you are not sure whether the author of the document is willing to attend court.

Presenting evidence in court

All documents, photographs, videos, reports and objects used as evidence must satisfy the requirements of the law to be admissible. You may refer to the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act for more information about admissibility of evidence in a criminal trial.

During your trial, each piece of evidence will be marked and formally admitted. For example, you may tell the judge during your examination-in-chief, "Your Honour, I would like to admit these photographs as evidence."

Exhibits must be marked and formally admitted into evidence before they can be considered by the judge. The judge will then mark the evidence by naming it with a letter and a number. For example, the judge may say "This photograph of a lamppost is admitted and marked P1." Witnesses will also be identified in the same way, such as PW1 for the first prosecution witness and DW1 for the first defence witness.

Bringing witnesses to court

A witness is a person who gives information and evidence (also known as testimony) of a case in court. All witnesses must tell the truth when giving their testimonies, and can be questioned by you and the prosecution.

Both you and the prosecution have a right to call witnesses to attend court for the trial. You can ensure all your witnesses attend your trial by applying for a Summons to a Witness.

Before your trial, you may wish to prepare:

• A list of witnesses you intend to call to court.
• A list of questions to ask your own and the prosecution's witnesses.