Relevance and materiality

Justice Watt's decision in R. v. Candir, 2009 ONCA 915 today sets out the purpose and definitions of relevance and materiality in a very clear way. The decision is helpful and relevant passages follow:

[46] To be receivable in a criminal trial, evidence must be relevant, material and admissible.

[47] Relevance is not an inherent characteristic of an item of evidence. Relevance exists as a relation between an item of evidence and a proposition of fact that the party adducing the evidence seeks to prove or disprove by the introduction of the evidence. Relevance is relative, not absolute, a function of and dependent on the circumstances of the case in which it is offered, including, but not only, the positions of the parties: R. v. Pilon (2009), 243 C.C.C. (3d) 109 (Ont. C.A.), at para. 33.

[48] The threshold for relevance is not high. To determine whether an item of evidence is relevant, a judge must decide whether, as a matter of human experience and logic, the existence of a particular fact, directly or indirectly, makes the existence of a material fact more probable than it would be otherwise: see R. v. Cloutier, [1979] 2 S.C.R. 709, at pp. 730-32. The exclusivity or cogency of the inferences that may be drawn from the item of evidence have no place in the inquiry into relevance: see R. v. Underwood (2002) 170 C.C.C. (3d) 500 (Alta. C.A.), at para. 25.

[49] Materiality is a legal concept. Materiality defines the status of the proposition a party seeks to establish by the introduction of (relevant) evidence to the case at large. What is material is determined by the governing substantive and procedural law and the allegations contained in the indictment. Evidence is material if what it is offered to prove is in issue according to the governing substantive and procedural law and the allegations contained in the indictment. Evidence is immaterial if what it is offered to prove is not in issue under the governing substantive and procedural law and the allegations contained in the indictment.