Evidence Ordinance [New Version], 5731-1971

The value of oral testimony and the credibility of witnesses are matters for the court to decide upon according to the conduct of the witnesses, the circumstances of the matter and the indications of truth that emerge during the trial.

Where a court in civil proceedings finds in one of the cases set out below on the basis of single testimony that is uncorroborated, and the testimony is not an admission by a party, it shall set out in its decision what moved it to be satisfied with that testimony; and these are the cases:

Evidence that is inadmissible in criminal proceedings and was received in error or inadvertently shall not serve as proof of guilt and no judgment may be based upon it; nevertheless, the fact that the court heard the evidence shall not invalidate the judgment, unless the court is of the opinion that the accused would not have been convicted but for the production of that evidence, or that there is no other sufficient evidence apart from it to support the conviction.

Contradictions in the testimony of witnesses do not, in themselves, prevent the court from making findings of fact in respect of matters to which the contradictions related.

A food product on which the date of its manufacture is not indicated — it is presumed to have been manufactured within the year preceding the discovery of the offence committed in connection with it.

Every law is a matter of common knowledge that requires no proof, unless a different intention is implied.

Where an enactment permits or requires that a document be served by post, whether it uses the term "service" or the term "giving" or "sending" or another term, service shall be deemed — unless a different intention is implied — to have been effected —

The Minister of Justice may prescribe, by Regulations, the rate of remuneration to be collected by an advocate for services rendered under section 15 and the fees payable for certification under section 15 otherwise than by an advocate.

The provisions of this Ordinance shall apply in proceedings before any court within the meaning of the Courts Law, 5717-1957, unless there is another provision to that effect.

Form of expert opinion

Form of medical certificate

Form of public officer's certificate

In these Regulations –

"administering officer" means a Registrar or a Magistrate's Court judge who administers an oath to a person or receives an affidavit from that person;

"affidavit" includes a certificate or document to which an affidavit is appended.

An affidavit shall set out the deponent's full name, occupation or profession and address.

An affidavit may be drawn up in the first person or in the third person, and may for convenience be divided into paragraphs marked with consecutive numbers.

Every interlineation, alteration, erasure or obliteration made in an affidavit before it is sworn shall be authenticated by the administering officer by signing his name, or his initials, in the margin beside it.

If the affidavit is illegible or difficult to read, or if in the opinion of the person required to administer the oath it is written in a manner that facilitates fraudulent alteration, that person may refuse to administer the oath and may request that the affidavit be rewritten.

The deponent shall sign the affidavit at the time of swearing, and if unable to write, shall impress his mark thereon in the presence of the administering officer.

Immediately following the end of an affidavit and at the foot of the page there shall appear the jurat, written without interlineations, alterations, erasures or obliterations and signed by the administering officer; the jurat shall set out —

Where several deponents join in swearing to a single affidavit, the names of all of them shall be written in the jurat and it shall be stated that each of them swore to the truth of the matters stated by that person in the affidavit.

The administering officer shall not permit any amendment to an affidavit without a further oath being taken thereon, and if the jurat has already been appended to the affidavit, a new jurat specifying the amendment shall be added; the administering officer may also refuse to permit a new oath and instead require that the affidavit be rewritten.

A person making an affidavit by oath shall use words to the following effect:

"I swear by God that this is my name and this is my signature (or: my mark) (and the person swearing shall point to his signature or mark), and that the contents of this my affidavit (or of the other document, as the case may be) are true."

A person making an affidavit by solemn affirmation shall use words to the following effect:

"I solemnly affirm that this is my name and this is my signature (or: my mark) (and the person affirming shall point to his signature or mark), and that the contents of this my affidavit are true."

And if the affidavit is a declaration neither by oath nor by solemn affirmation, the following words shall be added:

"I make this declaration in the sincere belief that it is true."