The Criminal Justice Act 2003 applicable in England and Wales, and to a lesser extent Scotland and Northern Ireland, implemented fundamental changes to the admissibility of evidence relating to character, in respect to defendants and others. The Act is far-reaching, providing for the admissibility of previous convictions in support of a propensity to commit like-offences and untruthfulness.[1] Common law rules in relation to the admissibility of bad character evidence have been abolished, with the existence of one exception.[2]
The legislation draws heavily on the Law Commission Paper No. 273,[3] with some deviations resulting from the Parliamentary debates as the Bill moved through Parliament.