Evidence Amendment Act 1853
Vict/16-17 c. 83 · Enacted 20 August 1853 · Extends to United Kingdom
Annotations to the whole text
Modifications
- C1
Preamble omitted under authority of Statute Law Revision Act 1892 (c. 19)
Contents
- 1Husbands and wives of parties to be admissible witnesses;
- 2except in criminal cases and in cases of adultery.
- 3Husbands and wives not compellable to disclose communications.
- 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Repealed
- 5Short title.
- 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Repealed
1Husbands and wives of parties to be admissible witnesses;
On the trial of any issue joined, or of any matter or question, or on any inquiry arising in any suit, action, or other proceeding in any court of justice, or before any person having by law or by consent of parties authority to hear, receive, and examine evidence, the husbands and wives of the parties thereto, and of the persons in whose behalf any such suit, action, or other proceeding may be brought or instituted, or opposed or defended, shall, except as herein-after excepted, be competent and compellable to give evidence, either viva voce or by deposition, according to the practice of the court, on behalf of either or any of the parties to the said suit, action, or other proceeding.
2except in criminal cases and in cases of adultery.
Nothing herein shall render any husband competent or compellable to give evidence for or against his wife, or any wife competent or compellable to give evidence for or against her husband, in any criminal proceeding, . . . . . . F1
3Husbands and wives not compellable to disclose communications.
F1No husband shall be compellable to disclose any communication made to him by his wife during the marriage, and no wife shall be compellable to disclose any communication made to her by her husband during the marriage.
4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .F1
5Short title.
In citing this Act in other Acts of Parliament, or in any instrument, document, or proceeding, it shall be sufficient to use the expression, “The Evidence Amendment Act 1853.”