Criminal Law
Dying Declaration
A statement made by a person about the cause of their death or the circumstances leading to it, given while they believed death was imminent or which later occurred.
A dying declaration is treated as an important, sometimes standalone, piece of evidence — the law makes an exception to the usual rule against hearsay because the person making it is presumed unlikely to lie in their final moments.
It can be recorded by a magistrate, a doctor, or even a police officer where circumstances don't allow for anything else, and courts examine it carefully for voluntariness and the declarant's mental fitness at the time.
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