CCTV footage is a 'document' within s 48 of the Evidence Act 2008 (Vic), and where such footage is destroyed, oral evidence of its contents is admissible both as secondary evidence of a document under s 48 and as real evidence at common law. Section 48(4) does not confer a separate judicial discretion to exclude secondary evidence; the only basis for exclusion is s 137. Evidence of what a witness observed on CCTV footage that has since been destroyed is not required to be excluded under s 137 merely because the witness's written record was made some weeks later, provided the jury is made aware of the reliability risks.
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