(a) providing for facts to be established by the application of logical rules; and (b) providing rules of evidence that recognise the importance of the rights affirmed by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990; and (c) promoting fairness to parties and witnesses; and (d) protecting rights of confidentiality and other important public interests; and (e) avoiding unjustifiable expense and delay; and The Evidence Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand that codifies the laws of evidence.

Section 12 provides that if there are no provisions in the Act or any other enactment regulating the admission of particular items of evidence, or the relevant provisions deal with that question only in part, decisions must be made having regard to the purpose and the principles set out in sections 6 to 8, and the common law, to the extent that it is consistent with the promotion of that purpose and those principles and is relevant to the decisions to be taken.

The second condition may be waived if the Judge considers that undue expense and delay would be caused by requiring the maker of the statement to testify.

Section 19 allow a hearsay statement contained in a business record to be admitted without having to separately satisfy the reliability test.

Subsection (4) sets out a list of matters that a Judge must (if relevant) take into account for the purpose of applying the reliability test.

Section 29 deals with the case where the defence raises, on the basis of an evidential foundation, the issue of whether a defendant's statement that the prosecution offers or intends to offer was obtained by oppressive, violent, inhuman, or degrading conduct or treatment or a threat of such conduct or treatment, or where the Judge raises the issue.

Subsection (4) sets out a list of matters that a Judge must (if relevant) take into account for the purpose of applying the reliability test.

If the Judge finds that the evidence has been improperly obtained, the Judge may determine if the exclusion of the evidence is proportionate to the impropriety by means of a balancing process that gives appropriate weight to the impropriety but also takes proper account of the need for an effective and credible system of justice.

Section 33 bars all persons other than the Judge or the defence from commenting on the fact that the defendant did not give evidence at his or her trial.

Subject to the test of substantial helpfulness set out in section 37, the defendant may offer evidence about his or her veracity.

[3] Section 45 relates to criminal proceedings in which evidence about previous visual identifications of an alleged offender obtained by officers of an enforcement agency is proposed to be given.

The effect of the definition is to exclude from those clauses (which relate to the privilege against self-incrimination, the discretion as to incrimination under foreign law, and the replacement of the privilege against self-incrimination in the case of Anton Piller orders) documents created before the person concerned is required to provide information.

Section 58 provides a privilege for a person who confides in a minister of religion in respect of communications made for the purpose of receiving religious or spiritual advice, benefit, or comfort.

Unless removed or limited by an enactment, whether expressly or by necessary implication, the person cannot be required to produce the information or be penalised for not doing so (whether or not the privilege is claimed).

The scope of the order has widened and can now include a direction that the party disclose information and documents that would not necessarily be found by the search alone.

Section 69 confers a general discretion on the Judge to protect confidential communications or information from disclosure in a proceeding.

Section 70 confers a discretion on a Judge to direct that matters of State not be disclosed if justified in the public interest.

[3] Section 71 sets out the general rule governing the eligibility and compellability of witnesses to give evidence.

The section requires the Judge to be satisfied, in addition to the requirement that the evidence tends to establish that a juror has acted in breach of the juror's duty, that in the circumstances of the particular case the public interest in protecting the confidentiality of the jury deliberations is outweighed by the public interest in avoiding or remedying any miscarriage of justice.

[3] Section 77 requires a witness aged 12 years or over to take an oath or make an affirmation before giving evidence.

Section 80(5) proves that wilfully giving false or misleading statements by a person providing communication assistance amounts to perjury.

Section 87 and 88 restrict questioning, the giving of evidence, or the making of statements or remarks about the precise address of any witness and the occupation of a complainant in a sexual case, respectively.

In general, such questioning and evidence and the making of any such statements or remarks, is prohibited unless the Judge considers that exclusion would be contrary to the interests of justice.

The section also deals with the effect of a failure by a party to comply with his or her cross-examination duties and the orders which may be made by the Judge.

Section 107 provides a child witness in criminal proceedings the automatic right to give evidence in an alternative way.

Those provisions are designed to ensure that the identity and place of residence of an undercover police officer is kept secret, except in very limited circumstances.

The direction must, amongst other matters, indicate that the jury must not draw any adverse inference against the defendant because of that manner of giving evidence or questioning.

Section 144 sets out a procedure for admitting in evidence a statute or other written law, proclamation, treaty, or act of State of a foreign country.

Prior to the Act, evidence law in New Zealand was largely Judge-made, comprising decisions that were made in response to the circumstances of particular cases.

The statutory provisions dealing with evidence were contained in a number of statutes, and have been reformed on a piecemeal basis, responding to issues as they arise.