![]() ![]() Maimonides lists ten classes of persons who are not competent to attest or testify, namely: women, slaves, minors, lunatics, the deaf, the blind, the wicked, the contemptible, relatives, and the interested parties (Yad, Edut 9:1). 1:9), but in civil cases, testimonies of various witnesses to particular facts, as well as a witness and a document, may be combined to satisfy the two-witnesses rule (Sh. In criminal cases, both witnesses must have witnessed the whole event together (cf. 22b–23a) and the testimony of a single witness is normally sufficient in matters of ritual (Git. ![]() A woman is allowed to remarry on the testimony of a single witness that her husband is dead (Yev. 3) and the testimony of a single depositary who still held the deposit was considered sufficient to prove which of the rival claims to a deposit was valid (Git. Conversely, a party who has partly admitted a claim will be excused from taking the oath if he is corroborated by at least a single witness ( Rema ḤM 87:6 Beit Yosef ḤM 75 n. 87b BM 3b–4a Yad, To’en 1:1) thus, in the case of widow claiming on her ketubbah or the holder of a bill claiming on it, where a single witness has testified that the claim had already been settled, the interested party will be required to take the oath before being allowed to recover (Ket. The following are some of several exceptions to the general rule: whenever two testifying witnesses would be sufficient to prove a claim, one is sufficient to require the defendant to take an *oath that the claim is unfounded (Shev. THE TWO-WITNESSES RULEĪs a general rule, no single witness alone is competent to attest or testify: there must always be at least two (Deut. While the validity of an act governed by Jewish law (e.g., marriage or divorce) may depend on the competency under Jewish law of the attesting witnesses, which will have to be determined according to Jewish law, the competency of testifying witnesses, even concerning acts governed by Jewish law, will always be determined by the law of the court ( lex fori) in which the evidence is taken. The distinction between testifying and attesting witnesses has practical significance also for purposes of modern Israel law. Ar., ḤM 46:7–8) is admitted as evidence and equivalent to oral testimony in civil cases, and need not be proved by testifying witnesses (Sh. A document duly attested by at least two attesting witnesses and confirmed by the court (see Sh. The rules on competency (see below) apply to testifying witnesses only. The former are required to be present at, and then and there attest, formal legal acts which failing such attestation, are normally invalid the latter are required to testify in court, either to an act previously attested by them or to any fact they have witnessed. Jewish law distinguishes between attesting and testifying witnesses. ![]() There is nothing in biblical law concerning the qualification of witnesses, but, according to Josephus, the credibility of the witnesses is established by their past life, while neither women nor slaves were allowed to testify (Jos., Ant. ![]() By its very existence, Israel is a witness of the fact that God is Redeemer and Lord of history (Isa. 2:14), or as a prosecuting witness (I Sam. The Lord Himself is sometimes called upon as witness (Gen. 89:38), or poems can be invoked as witnesses: “Therefore, write down this poem and teach it to the people of Israel put it in their mouths, in order that this poem may be my witness against the people of Israel” (Deut. Lasting inanimate objects, such as stones (Gen. 4:219 Code of Hammurabi, 1–4-Pritchard, Texts, 166).Ī curse could be publicly uttered against a witness who withholds testimony (Lev. The convicted false witness bears the penalty that would have been inflicted upon the accused (Deut. The witness of a grave offence, such as enticement to idolatry, was bound by law to expose the offender if the penalty for the crime was stoning, the witness was obliged to throw the first stone (Deut. 23 Ruth 4) when a document was drawn up, it was signed by witnesses (Jer. Commercial transactions of importance took place in the presence of witnesses at the gate of the town (Gen. The evidence of at least two witnesses was required for convicting the accused (Num. עֵד) is one that has personal knowledge of an event or a fact. ![]()
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