The text develops the readers' understanding of the law of evidence in both a practical and an academic way by examining and analysing the law in the context of the adversarial and managed systems of criminal and civil justice. This book takes a different approach by formally recognising the operation of the different evidential principles between criminal and civil cases; including a detailed section on the law of civil evidence; recognising that the study of evidence should reflect the practical context in which the rules operate; anticipating important proposed legislative changes in the law of evidence and by recognising the impact of the implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the law of evidence.