Cases in which statement of relevant fact by person who is dead or cannot be found, etc., is relevant
32.—(1)  Subject to subsections (2) and (3), statements of relevant facts made by a person (whether orally, in a document or otherwise), are themselves relevant facts in the following cases:
when it relates to cause of death;
(a)when the statement is made by a person as to the cause of the person’s death, or as to any of the circumstances of the transaction which resulted in the person’s death, in cases in which the cause of that person’s death comes into question; such statements are relevant whether the person who made them was or was not at the time when they were made under expectation of death, and whatever may be the nature of the proceeding in which the cause of the person’s death comes into question;
or is made in course of trade, business, profession or other occupation;
(b)when the statement was made by a person in the ordinary course of a trade, business, profession or other occupation and in particular when it consists of —
(i)any entry or memorandum in books kept in the ordinary course of a trade, business, profession or other occupation or in the discharge of professional duty;
(ii)an acknowledgment (whether written or signed) for the receipt of money, goods, securities or property of any kind;
(iii)any information in market quotations, tabulations, lists, directories or other compilations generally used and relied upon by the public or by persons in particular occupations; or
(iv)a document constituting, or forming part of, the records (whether past or present) of a trade, business, profession or other occupation that are recorded, owned or kept by any person, body or organisation carrying out the trade, business, profession or other occupation,
 and includes a statement made in a document that is, or forms part of, a record compiled by a person acting in the ordinary course of a trade, business, profession or other occupation based on information supplied by other persons;
or against interest of maker;
(c)when the statement is against the pecuniary or proprietary interest of the person making it, or when, if true, it would expose the person or would have exposed the person to a criminal prosecution or to a suit for damages;
or gives opinion as to public right or custom or matters of general interest;
(d)when the statement gives the opinion of any such person as to the existence of any public right or custom or matter of public or general interest, of the existence of which if it existed the person would have been likely to be aware, and when such statement was made before any controversy as to such right, custom or matter had arisen;
or relates to existence of relationship;
(e)when the statement relates to the existence of any relationship by blood, marriage or adoption between persons as to whose relationship by blood, marriage or adoption the person making the statement had special means of knowledge, and when the statement was made before the question in dispute was raised;
or is made in will or deed relating to family affairs;
(f)when the statement relates to the existence of any relationship by blood, marriage or adoption between persons deceased, and is made in any will or deed relating to the affairs of the family to which any such deceased person belonged, or in any family pedigree or upon any tombstone, family portrait or other thing on which such statements are usually made, and when such statement was made before the question in dispute was raised;
or in document relating to transaction mentioned in section 13(a);
(g)when the statement is contained in any deed or other document which relates to any such transaction as is mentioned in section 13(a);
or is made by several persons and expresses feelings relevant to matter in question;
(h)when the statement was made by a number of persons and expressed feelings or impressions on their part relevant to the matter in question;
or is made by person who is compellable but refuses to give evidence;
(i)when the statement was made by a person who, being compellable to give evidence on behalf of the party desiring to give the statement in evidence, attends or is brought before the court, but refuses to be sworn or affirmed, or is sworn or affirmed but refuses to give any evidence;
or is made by person who is dead or who cannot be produced as witness;
(j)when the statement is made by a person in respect of whom it is shown —
(i)is dead or unfit because of his or her bodily or mental condition to attend as a witness;
(ii)that despite reasonable efforts to locate him or her, he or she cannot be found whether within or outside Singapore;
(iii)that he or she is outside Singapore and it is not practicable to secure his or her attendance; or
(iv)that, being competent but not compellable to give evidence on behalf of the party desiring to give the statement in evidence, he or she refuses to do so;
or by agreement.
(k)when the parties to the proceedings agree that for the purpose of those proceedings the statement may be given in evidence.
Illustrations
     (a)  The question is whether A was murdered by B.
     A dies of injuries received in a transaction in the course of which she was raped.
     The question is whether A was raped by B; or
     The question is whether A was killed by B under such circumstances that a suit would lie against B by A’s widow.
     Statements made by A as to the cause of his or her death, referring respectively to the murder, the rape and the actionable wrong under consideration, are relevant facts.
     (b)  The question is as to the date of A’s birth.
     An entry in the diary of a deceased surgeon regularly kept in the course of business, stating that on a given day he or she attended A’s mother and delivered her of a son, is a relevant fact.
     (c)  The question is whether A was in Singapore on a given day.
     A statement in the diary of a deceased solicitor regularly kept in the course of business that on a given day the solicitor attended A at a place mentioned in Singapore for the purpose of conferring with A upon specified business is a relevant fact.
     (d)  The question is whether a ship sailed from Singapore harbour on a given day.
     A letter written by a deceased member of a merchant’s firm by which the ship was chartered to their correspondents in London, to whom the cargo was consigned, stating that the ship sailed on a given day from Singapore harbour is a relevant fact.
     (e)  The question is whether rent was paid to A for certain land.
     A letter from A’s deceased agent to B, saying that the agent had received the rent on A’s account and held it at A’s orders, is a relevant fact.
     (f)  The question is whether A and B were legally married.
     The statement of a deceased clergyman that he married them under such circumstances that the celebration would be a crime is relevant.
     (g)  The question is whether A, a person who cannot be found, wrote a letter on a certain day.
     The fact that a letter written by A is dated on that day is relevant.
     (h)  The question is, what was the cause of the wreck of a ship?
     A protest made by the captain, whose attendance cannot be procured, is a relevant fact.
     (i)  The question is, what was the price of shares on a certain day in a particular market?
     A statement of the price made by a deceased broker in the ordinary course of his or her business is a relevant fact.
     (j)  The question is whether A, who is dead, was the father of B.
     A statement by A that B was his son is a relevant fact.
     (k)  The question is, what was the date of the birth of A?
     A letter from A’s deceased father to a friend, announcing the birth of A on a given day, is a relevant fact.
     (l)  The question is whether and when A and B were married.
     An entry in a memorandum-book by C, the deceased father of B, of his daughter’s marriage with A on a given date, is a relevant fact.
     (m)  A sues B for a libel expressed in a printed caricature exposed in a shop‑window. The question is as to the similarity of the caricature and its libellous character.
     The remarks of a crowd of spectators on these points may be proved.
[4/2012]
(2)  For the purposes of paragraph (a), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) or (j) of subsection (1), where a person makes an oral statement to or in the hearing of another person who, at the request of the maker of the statement, puts it (or the substance of it) into writing at the time or reasonably soon afterwards, thereby producing a corresponding statement in a document, the statement in the document is to be treated for the purposes of those paragraphs as the statement of the maker of the oral statement.
[4/2012]
(3)  A statement which is otherwise relevant under subsection (1) is not relevant if the court is of the view that it would not be in the interests of justice to treat it as relevant.
[4/2012]
(4)  Except in the case of subsection (1)(k), evidence may not be given under subsection (1) on behalf of a party to the proceedings unless that party complies —
(a)in the case of criminal proceedings, with such notice requirements and other conditions as may be prescribed by the Minister under section 428 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010; and
(b)in all other proceedings, with such notice requirements and other conditions as may be prescribed in the Rules of Court or the Family Justice Rules.
[4/2012; 27/2014]
(5)  Where a statement is admitted in evidence under subsection (1), the court shall assign such weight as it deems fit to the statement.
[4/2012]
(6)  Despite paragraph (k) of subsection (1), an agreement under that paragraph does not enable a statement to be given in evidence in criminal proceedings on the prosecution’s behalf unless at the time the agreement is made, the accused or any of the co‑accused is represented by an advocate.
[4/2012]
(7)  Despite paragraph (k) of subsection (1), an agreement under that paragraph is of no effect for the purposes of any proceedings before the General Division of the High Court or any proceedings arising out of proceedings before the General Division of the High Court if made during proceedings before an examining Magistrate conducting a committal hearing under Division 2 of Part 10 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 as in force immediately before 17 September 2018.
[4/2012; 19/2018; 40/2019]