Evidence: Rules, Exceptions and Exclusions - The Honourable Geoffrey Bellew SC, 7th Floor, Garfield Barwick Chambers

The session will examine the overall scheme of the Evidence Act with particular emphasis on:

• the practical operation of rules such as the hearsay rule, the opinion rule and the credibility rule;
• exceptions to those rules; and
• the bases of exclusion of evidence in both civil and criminal proceedings. 

Ethics and evidence - Linden Barnes, Senior Ethics Solicitor, Law Society of NSW

This session will focus on ethical evidence, and will cover:

• Officer of court obligations.
• Misleading evidence.
• Relationship with witnesses.

This session will focus on Evidence and due diligence, and will cover:

• The various AI Practice Notes.
• Data and file management/Record keeping.
• How to avoid complaints being made about you.

Practitioners should inform themselves of Rule 6.1 of the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015 which sets out the requirements for the four (4) mandatory CPD areas for NSW legal practitioners – (a) ethics and professional responsibility; (b) practice management and business skills; (c) professional skills; and (d) substantive law. It is the responsibility of each legal practitioner to self-assess as to whether a particular educational activity extends their knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to their practice needs or professional development. If so, then the practitioner may claim one (1) "unit” for each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included. 

If you self-assess that this particular educational activity extends your knowledge and skills, this program may allow you to claim three (3) of the mandatory areas: (a) ethics and professional responsibility; (b) practice management and business skills; and (c) professional skills.