Section 9

Section 9 provides a basket of 'contextual relevancy' — facts that are not themselves facts in issue or directly relevant, but which are necessary to make sense of the relevant facts. Without Section 9, evidence would be received in a vacuum. **Five categories of Section 9 relevancy:** 1. *Explanatory facts:* Facts that explain a relevant fact. If the relevant fact is 'the accused was at the crime scene,' the fact that the accused's car was parked outside the building is relevant under Section 9 — it introduces and explains the main relevant fact. 2. *Inferential support/rebuttal:* Facts that support or rebut inferences from relevant facts. If prosecution infers consciousness of guilt from the accused's flight, defence can show the accused had other reasons to flee (e.g., fear of a different person). 3. *Identity:* Facts establishing the identity of persons, things, or places whose identity matters. This is the foundational provision for Test Identification Parades (TI parades) — the TI parade establishes the witness's ability to identify the accused, which is a fact relevant under Section 9 in establishing identity. 4. *Time and place:* Facts that fix when and where a relevant fact occurred. Alibis work through Section 9 — the fact that the accused was in another city at the time the offence was committed is relevant to fix the time/place of the offence and the accused's absence. 5. *Relations of parties:* Facts showing the relationship between parties involved in a transaction. In a contract dispute, the history of dealings between the parties is relevant under Section 9 to explain the transaction. **The 'necessary' qualifier:** Section 9 facts are relevant only 'in so far as they are necessary for that purpose.' Courts use this to limit the scope — not every tangentially explanatory fact is admissible; only those necessary to make sense of the main relevant facts.