39
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under consideration cannot be sustained. Evidence has to be
received not merely in accordance with a standard of its
ropriateness to prove a conclusion for which theprosecution
contends; but also because whatever its appropriateness in the
adjudication it in fact belongs to the story to which the
attention of the Court is drawn. Such evidence is admitted,
in the language of legal textbooks, as part of the res gestae.
Almost contemptuous reference has been made to this term by
Lord Tomlin (in "Bomer v. Newman" 1931 2 Ch. at p.120) who has
remarked "What is meant by saying that an....act is admi ssible
"because it is part of the res gestae has never, as far as I
'am aware, been explained in a satisfactory manner. I suspect
"it of being a phrase adopted to provide a respectable legal
"cloak for a variety of cases to which no formula of precision
"can be applied". The term nevertheless affords an efficient
classification of material. It is fundamental in the law of
evidence. The authoritative statement of the law is to be
found in Stephen's "Digest of the Law of Evidence", 7ẞh Edn,
(1906) Article 3, which is as follows:-
"(Relevancy of facts forming part of the same transaction
"as the facts in issue) A transaction is a group of
"facts so connected together as to be referred to by a
"single legal name a crime
Every fact which
is part of the same transaction as the facts in issue
"is deemed to be relevant to theissue, although it may
"not be actually in issue,..
He adds:
"Whether any particular fact is or is not part of the
transaction as the facte in iesus
a question of
*lew upon which ne principle has been stated by authori ty
'and on which single judges have given different
* decisions.
(See also 13 Hal #bury "Laws of Englan.", p.æk 430, par.585).