Burrough v Martin

Facts

A mariner was called to speak to events on a voyage. He could not remember them. He was allowed to look at the ship's log, which had been compiled soon after the events, under his supervision, though not written in his own hand.

Issue

May a witness refresh his memory from a document he supervised but did not write?

Held

Yes. The log was contemporaneous, and it was his record in the sense that he had checked it. He could use it to revive a present recollection.

Principle

Authorship, for a memory-refreshing document, includes a record made under the witness's supervision. The document is not itself the evidence.

Why it matters

It is the first condition, contemporaneity, and the second, authorship. Attorney-General's Reference (No 3 of 1979) is the police-notebook case.

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