Testimony is the oldest form of proof and the one most often misunderstood by the people giving it. A witness who is entirely honest can still be unreliable, because memory reconstructs rather than replays, and because the questions put to a person shape what that person remembers. This subject sets out what a statement is for, how consistency is used and misused, which out-of-court statements are admissible and why, and what cross-examination is actually testing.
A record is admissible where it was made at or near the time by somebody with knowledge, kept in the course of a regularly conducted activity, and where making it was a regular practice. The reliability comes from routine: an entry made the same way every day, by somebody whose job depends on accuracy, is trustworthy in a way an occasional note is not.
