EVIDENCE ON OATH

Evening Star, Issue 20591, 17 September 1930, Page 3

EVIDENCE ON OATH

CHRISTCHURCH MAGISTRATE'S VIEWS [Special to the ‘Spar.’] CHRISTCHURCH, September 16. Roughly, 80 per cent, of the witnesses giving evidence on oath in the court aro truthful. This is tho experience of Mr Mosley (one of tho Christchurch magistrates), who was asked to-day for his views on tho statement made by a Sydney magistrate that 95 per cent, of the witnesses wore untruthful. Mr Mosley said ho could not agree with tho Australian magistrate's contention that tho oath administered to witnesses in court was “a blasphemous formality.” “To find practically all tho witnesses tolling lies in tho box is not my experience at all,” Mr Mosley said. “ I will concede that there are some eases in which the oath makes no difference at all, but I find that with, I should say, round about 80 per cent, of tho witnesses tho oath makes all the difference in the world. 1 don’t know what tho experience is in Australia. 1 speak only of New Zealand. Eighty per cent, of tho witnesses do not deliberately toll untruths, though, of course, one appreciates that they must have an unconscious bias.”