What is the test for admissibility of statements by an accused?
Alberta, Canada
The following excerpt is from R. v. Hayes, 1982 ABCA 30 (CanLII):
The starting point for any decision as to the admissibility of statements by an accused is the judgment of Lord Sumner in Ibrahim v. The King, [1914] A.C. 599. At p. 609 he stated: “It has long been established as a positive rule of English criminal law, that no statement by an accused is admissible in evidence against him unless it is shewn by the prosecution to have been a voluntary statement, in the sense that it has not been obtained from him either by fear of prejudice or hope of advantage exercised or held out by a person in authority.”
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