Evidence as a Problem in Communicating

The law of evidence is sagging to the point of collapse under its own weight. It has cracked visibly in the administrative sphere, and what saves it in the courts is probably a rather general ignorance of what is actually between the covers of Wigmore, plus the fact that lawyers and judges often seem to be downright ashamed to push the rules to their logical extremes. Evidence in action is, happily perhaps, somewhat different from evidence in books. Nevertheless, among people who are thoughtful about such things there is general agreement that something ought to be done.