Bad Character and Propensity Evidence in Australia: Is There a Case for Change and Could England have the Answer?

Bad Character and Propensity Evidence in Australia: Is There a Case for Change and Could England have the Answer?

The admission of bad character and propensity evidence in a criminal trial has been a controversial subject for many years, and while Australian jurisdictions have shied away from any major amendments to their legislation, England has made a significant change by inserting amended bad character sections 98, 99 and 101 to 105 into the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (E & W) Part 11, Chapter I. In doing so, England has allowed the admission of bad character evidence to be introduced more readily through the use of seven gateways. The seven chapters of this thesis represent an in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of the current bad character and propensity legislation in both Australia and England, with a view as to whether the revolutionary amendments to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (E & W) should be adopted in some equivalent form in a consistent manner across the various Australian jurisdictions.

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