# The Criminal Procedure Rules 2025, Rule 48.15: Credibility and consistency of maker of written witness statement or other hearsay

Extent: E+W

(1) This rule applies where a party wants to challenge the credibility or consistency of a person who made a statement which another party wants to introduce as hearsay.
(2) The party who wants to challenge the credibility or consistency of that person must—
(a) serve notice of intention to do so on—
(i) the court officer, and
(ii) the party who served the hearsay; and
(b) in it, identify any statement or other material on which that party relies.
(3) A respondent who wants to challenge such a person’s credibility or consistency must serve such a notice not more than 5 business days after service of the hearsay by the applicant.
(4) An applicant who wants to challenge such a person’s credibility or consistency must serve such a notice not more than 3 business days after service of the hearsay by the respondent.
(5) The party who served the hearsay—
(a) may call that person to give oral evidence instead; and
(b) if so, must serve notice of intention to do so on—
(i) the court officer, and
(ii) the other party
as soon as practicable after service of the notice under paragraph (2).
[Note. Section 5(2) of the Civil Evidence Act 1995 describes the procedure for challenging the credibility of the maker of a statement of which hearsay evidence is introduced. See also section 6 of that Act.
The 1995 Act does not allow the introduction of evidence of a previous inconsistent statement otherwise than in accordance with sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1865.]

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/909/rule/48.15 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-rules-2025/rule-48.15
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.