Important Legal Definitions
Explore legal terms, clear definitions and practical examples.
Refreshing Memory (Section 159 IEA / Section 147 BSA)
Evidentiary Rules & Proof Standards
Definition
The statutory permission allowing a witness under examination to refresh their memory by referring to any writing made by themselves at the time the transaction took place, or so soon afterwards that the transaction was fresh in their memory.
Example
A government medical officer who performed five hundred post-mortems in a year refers to their original contemporaneous post-mortem register while in the witness box to refresh their memory regarding the exact depth of a wound.