Admissible Details

Admissible refers to something that is allowed or relevant. Anything or anyone that is admissible is valid, i.e. it has a measure of reliability. It means allowable, worthy of admission or acceptance. In law, it describes the information relevant to determining different issues in any judicial proceeding so that a judge or jury can appropriately consider the data and make an informed decision. It is mandatory for data to be relevant and have some level of reliability.

Business records can either be admissible or inadmissible. Business records are writings or records which can be in the form of entry in a book meant to record any act, transaction, occurrence, or event. The trial judge is responsible for certifying records of the act, transaction, occurrence, or event were created in the regular course of business and that it was standard procedure for the company. The writing or record will be made admissible if the party or parties involved can produce as witnesses the individuals who either made the writing or record or have personal know-how of the act, transaction, event, or occurrence.

For a piece of evidence to be admitted in the court of law, it needs to be relevant and competent. The evidence must have what it takes to prove or disprove a particular fact. It might not make the fact certain, but it must have a reasonable tendency to increase or decrease the likelihood of the fact in question. When it comes to testimonial evidence (a case where a person takes the stand in the witness box and answers questions about a case), the statements of people can be tainted by poor memories or bias, and some admissibility rules apply. The general rule in evidence is that all relevant evidence is admissible while all irrelevant evidence is inadmissible.

Example of Admissible

A piece of evidence is considered admissible if the judge or jury can receive it to decide the merits of a controversy. For example, patient records maintained by a hospital or doctor containing a setup opinion about a medical diagnosis will not be considered admissible, except a close analysis of the document and the circumstances in which it was made must be considered. The party that wants to tender the document will show that the diagnosis contains the information directly or indirectly supplied by someone who might have personal knowledge of the asserted fact.

Admissible vs. Inadmissible

Admissible means being capable or deserving of being accepted, admitted or allowed, while inadmissible means anything or anyone who does not have the capacity to be accepted, admitted, or allowed.

For a piece of evidence to be considered admissible, it must be relevant (it must relate to a particular fact in question) and reliable (It must have a credible source). In contrast, a piece of evidence will be considered inadmissible if it is unfairly prejudicial, wastes time, is misleading, etc.