DISTINCTION BETWEEN COMPLAINT AND STATEMENT
Posted on Sunday, December 16, 2012 by Addlin
DISTINCTION
BETWEEN COMPLAINT AND STATEMENT
CONDUCT according to
the explanation 1 in Section 8 of Evidence Act is:
“Conduct that does not include statements
unless those statements accompany and explain by acts other than statements”
From the explanation,
it can be clarified that a statement is not relevant as conduct unless it is
accompanied and explained by way of acts. The complaint and conduct of the
victim (complainant) is considered as relevant because if it was made just
after the offence had occurred it has a strong value and it will show the real
state of mind of the victim.
There are several
distinctions between a complaint and mere statement. And each of this conduct
has their own value as evidence. In this discussion I will explain about the
characteristics of these two conducts. The explanation about complaint and
statement are as following below:
COMPLAINT
- Gives information and may express feelings such as grief, fear, dissatisfaction and his hope that the action would be taken against the accused.
- The act of the complainant must be immediately after the occurrence of the offence, for example if the victim is being attacked by the accused, he or she must complaint as soon as possible to the authority.
- Authority in this aspect means there is not necessarily to inform to the police.
- Every immediate complaint will amount to a relevant as conduct.
- If the complainant has given his or her testimony in court about the complaint, hence the complaint has the potential to be used as corroborative evidence via virtue of Section 157.
- If the complainant had died before give the testimony in court, the complaint is already relevant as a conduct under Section 8.
STATEMENT
- Gives only certain information because it just expression of knowledge and not involve the expression of feeling by the victim.
- If the complainant make the complaint after a lapse of time, it would not amount to a complaint but it just be a MERE STATEMENT even though it relating the same issue and facts. See Soh Yang Tick v PP.
- It will not be relevant under Section 8 but it only relevant in certain circumstances.
- It may be relevant as dying declaration under Section 32(1), if it fulfill the requirements need in that section.
- May be corroborative evidence under Section 157.
The case of PP v Aziz bin Muhammad
Din, in this
case the court drew distinction between a complaint and statement. Furthermore Section
8 and illustration (j) of the section was considered in this case where Augustine Paul JC said that:
“a complaint made by a rape victim and the circumstances under
which it was made are relevant under section 8 illustration (j) of the Act. The
illustration makes a distinction between a complaint and a statement. While a
statement is made relevant only as corroborative evidence under S.157 of the
Act, with regard to a complaint, illustration (j) demonstrates that the fact of
the complaint having been made, the circumstances under which, and the terms in
which it was made are relevant. It forms part of the res gastae principle under
S.6 of the Act and will therefore not be hit by the prohibition contained in S.73A
(7). As to whether
the words uttered by SP2 to her father amounted to a complaint, the evidence of
SP1 and SP2 revealed that SP2 made the statement
only after repeated questioning by SP1 and that too, only on 3 February
1995 at the Health Clinic after which the police report was made. The statement,
which had only revealed that SP2 had spent the night at PS6’s house did not relate
to the crime for which the accused had been charged and, in any event, was not
made voluntarily and spontaneously. The burden of proof was on the prosecution
to establish that the statement amounted to a complaint within the meaning of
S. 8 of the Act. This, the prosecution failed to do”
Furthermore, the
relevancy of a complaint in sexual cases was also considered in the case of PP v Mohammad Tereng B. Amit, Muhammad Kamil J said that “In any event, the compliant
lodged by PW7 with PW15 is also relevant by virtue of section 8(2),
explanations 1 and 2, and illustrations (j) and (k) of the Act as remarked in
the case of PP v Teo Eng Chan & Ors…
From the above two illustrations, either way, the evidence of PW15 taken on its
may be considered as a piece of substantive evidence.”
Actually there is no
general rule which requires victims of sexual abuse or those cognizant with the
same matters, to report them immediately, more so to the police. Thus the
failure to make an early police report will not be fatal to the prosecution’s
case, unless it can be ascertained with certainty that this failure was due to
other reasons which cast doubt on the victim’s claim of the offence. But from my opinion, the complainant must report the offence immediately because sometimes, the
delay in giving complaint which not spontaneous complaint will give the
opportunity for the accused to threat the victims and cause them to think about
the consequences of the report. Sometimes, in the lapse of time the memory of
the victims will fade away as they will try to get rid the memory due to the
traumatized and distressed impact by the offence.
As the conclusion,
the victim of any crime must immediately after the occurrence of any crimes
complaint to another party, in this aspect the most preferable party is party
which has the authorities such as police. This suggestion is due to the relevancy
of the complaint to be adduced as evidence in court and at the same time it
will strengthen the prosecution’s case and uphold the justice for the victim. It
is not to say that the statement does not have any evidential values at all but
complaint of the victim can add more strength in particular case.
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2 Response to "DISTINCTION BETWEEN COMPLAINT AND STATEMENT"
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Esther Tan Says....So can I say that the main distinction between complaint and statement is just the PROXIMITY OF TIME?
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Addlin Says....Dear Miss Esther,
Yup indeed, from my point of view, i also agree that the main distinction between compliant and statement is just the proximity of time because i think if there is lapse of time from the victim it may weaken the prosecution's case :)
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