Section 12 — Evidence Act 1995 (NSW)

Competence and compellability

Except as otherwise provided by this Act—
(a) every person is competent to give evidence, and
(b) a person who is competent to give evidence about a fact is compellable to give that evidence.

Sourced from the New South Wales Legislation website at 8 June 2026. For the latest information on New South Wales Government legislation please go to https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au. Verify the current text against the official source before relying on it.

Related sections

s 9 — Application of common law and equity
s 10 — Parliamentary privilege preserved
s 11 — General powers of a court
s 13 — Competence: lack of capacity
s 14 — Compellability: reduced capacity
s 15 — Compellability: Sovereign and others

Research how courts apply s 12

BriefBridge searches NSW and High Court caselaw by meaning — every answer cited to the paragraph.

Try BriefBridge free