Admissibility Of Illegally Obtained Evidence In Civil Cases

The issue of whether illegally obtained evidence is admissible in civil cases has nearly not been systematically studied by legal scholars in China. However, the current situation of China reveals that evidence collected by disputing parties using improper means have increased very rapidly and more and more "improper means" are used in obtaining evidence. As a result, civil rights have been increasingly harmed. Since people's conduct orientation is guided by how illegally obtained evidence is treated in court room, properly formulated legislative or judicial response to this issue, based on thorough study of this problem, is highly expected.This paper first goes through a comparative study of admissibility of illegally obtained evidence in various jurisdictions, and then analyses the value and necessity of application of the Exclusionary Rule in civil trials. It finally offers a proposal on how to establish framework rules to be applied in treating illegally obtained evidence in civil cases.