Relevance
Definition
The logical quality of evidence that makes a fact in dispute more or less probable. Under FRE Rule 401, evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make a fact of consequence more or less probable. Under the BSA 2023, relevance is a statutory category defined by Sections 5 to 55.
Related terms
- Probative Value
- The strength of the evidence's tendency to prove or disprove a fact in issue. High probative value means the evidence substantially changes...
- Admissibility
- Whether a piece of evidence is permitted to be placed before the fact-finder at all. Admissibility is a threshold question, decided by...
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (BSA)
- India's current evidence statute, which replaced the Indian Evidence Act 1872. Section 63 of the BSA governs electronic records and requires a...
- Defence Fallacy
- The converse error of inflating the importance of the RMP by arguing that, because many people in the population share the profile,...
- Exclusionary Rule
- A rule that evidence obtained in violation of constitutional or statutory search-and-seizure requirements cannot be used at trial. Applied strictly and automatically...
- Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE)
- The rules governing the admission of evidence in US federal courts, adopted in 1975 and regularly amended. Rule 401 defines relevance; Rule...
- Likelihood Ratio (LR)
- The ratio of two conditional probabilities: the probability of the observed evidence given the prosecution's hypothesis (same source), divided by the probability...
- Prejudicial Effect
- The risk that evidence will influence a fact-finder's decision through emotion, bias, or confusion rather than through rational inference. Courts balance prejudicial...
- Prosecutor's Fallacy
- The error of treating the RMP (or its reciprocal) as the probability that the defendant is innocent, or as the probability that...
Explained in these topics
- Probative Value and the Weight of EvidenceThe threshold requirement for admissibility: evidence is relevant if it tends to make a fact of consequence more or less probable than it would be without the...
- Relevance and Admissibility: The Two GatesThe logical quality of evidence that makes a fact in dispute more or less probable. Under FRE Rule 401, evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make a f...