... area of law, before approaching the core issue; as to what extent, if any, has the Human Rights act 1998 influenced decisions and interpretations of judicial discretion. This is to be followed by case law as well as a series of comment by scholars within this area of law. How important is the discretion to exclude evidence? Reviewing the common law system, one of the more striking characteristics is the existence of a number of rules and practises that, in many ways prohibits the disclosure of logically relevant/important evidence. This includes the opinion rule1, the hearsay rule2, rule against evidence of bad character3, and the, almost holy rule of legal privilege4, to mention a few. When the courts are considering the applicability of these rules, the concepts of relevance5 as well of "cost" is brought in to play. The question that has to be posed is in regard to "cost", is whether or ...

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