What is the effect of not calling a witness who can give evidence which it was in his power to give?
Saskatchewan, Canada
The following excerpt is from Murray v. Saskatoon (City), 1951 CanLII 202 (SK CA):
During the course of the argument considerable attention was devoted to the question of the effect which should be given to the action of a party in not calling a witness who could give evidence which it was in his power to give and by which the facts might be elucidated. Reference was made to the remarks of Lord Mansfield in Blatch v. Archer (1774) 1 Cowp 63, 98 ER 969, where he is reported at p. 970 as follows: “It is certainly a maxim that all evidence is to be weighed according to the proof which it was in the power of one side to have produced, and in the power of the other to have contradicted.”
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