§ SECTION 124 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER IX — OF WITNESSES

Who may testify

The rule of competency. Everyone is competent to be a witness — a child, an elderly person, one who is ill or of unsound mind — unless the court finds they cannot understand the questions or give rational answers, by tender years, extreme old age, disease, or a like cause.

How to read Section 124

Everyone can testify — the only question is whether the person can understand the questions and answer them rationally.

The rule

All persons are competent to testify — competency is the default.

The only test

Can the person understand the questions and give rational answers? That capacity is all that matters.

The disqualifiers

Incapacity from tender years, extreme old age, disease (of body or mind), or any like cause — but only if it actually prevents understanding or rational answers.

The bare Act

The section in its own words — the rule and an Explanation.

Section 124 · verbatim

All persons shall be competent to testify unless the Court considers that they are prevented from understanding the questions put to them, or from giving rational answers to those questions, by tender years, extreme old age, disease, whether of body or mind, or any other cause of the same kind.

Explanation.—A person of unsound mind is not incompetent to testify, unless he is prevented by his unsoundness of mind from understanding the questions put to him and giving rational answers to them.

In short: the starting point is inclusion, not exclusion — every person is a competent witness. Age, illness, even unsoundness of mind do not by themselves shut a person out. The single, functional test is capacity: can this person understand the questions put to them and give rational answers? Only where the court finds that capacity is absent — and absent because of tender years, extreme old age, disease of body or mind, or a cause of the same kind — is the person incompetent. The Explanation drives the point home for mental illness: a person of unsound mind is not incompetent merely for being so; he is barred only if his unsoundness actually prevents him from understanding and answering rationally (so a witness in a lucid state may testify). Note the limit: competency is only about capacity to give evidence — whether that evidence is ultimately believed is a separate question of credibility.

→ This carries forward IEA 1872 § 118 — and opens Chapter IX on witnesses.

Glossary

competent to testify

Legally allowed to be a witness and give evidence.

tender years

Very young age — a child witness.

extreme old age

Very advanced age, where capacity may be in question.

disease, whether of body or mind

Illness, physical or mental, that may affect the capacity to understand and answer.

any other cause of the same kind

A like incapacity — something similar in nature to the listed causes.

competency vs credibility

Competency is capacity to testify; whether the evidence is believed is a separate question.

The picture

Competency is the default — a person is barred only if a listed cause actually destroys the capacity to understand and answer.

The section, part by part

Tap a part — the picture-story tells it first; the word-by-word text and example follow.

The ruleUnsound mind

the ruleEveryone is competent — unless a listed cause destroys the capacity

In one lineAll persons are competent to testify; a person is barred only if tender years, extreme old age, disease or a like cause prevents them from understanding the questions or answering rationally.

All persons shall be competent to testifythe default: everyone can testify…competency is presumed — the law starts by admitting every person as a witness.

unless the Court considers that they are prevented from understanding the questions put to them, or from giving rational answers to those questions, by tender years, extreme old age, disease, whether of body or mind, or any other cause of the same kind.→ unless capacity is destroyed by a listed causethe only bar: the court finds the person cannot understand or answer rationally because of tender years, extreme old age, disease, or a like cause.

ExampleA child of six who understands what she saw and answers questions sensibly is a competent witness. She is not barred by age — only a genuine inability to understand or answer would bar her.

✗ Not thisCompetency is not about age or status, and not about whether the witness is truthful. A competent witness may still be disbelieved — that is credibility, judged separately after the evidence is given.

unsound mindMental illness bars a witness only when it actually blocks understanding

In one lineA person of unsound mind is not incompetent just for being so — he is barred only if his unsoundness prevents him from understanding the questions and answering them rationally.

Explanation.—A person of unsound mind is not incompetent to testify, unless he is prevented by his unsoundness of mind from understanding the questions put to him and giving rational answers to them.unsound mind ≠ automatically incompetenthe is competent unless this unsoundness, now, stops him from understanding and answering rationally.

ExampleA person with a mental illness who is lucid and recounts events coherently may testify. Only if his condition leaves him unable to follow the questions or give sensible answers is he incompetent.

✗ Not thisUnsoundness of mind is not an automatic disqualifier, and the bar is not permanent — it turns on the person’s actual capacity at the time of testifying, so lucid intervals count.

Connected provisions

§ 123 · back

IEA 1872, § 118

Carried forward — the general test of competency of witnesses.

BSA 2023 § 124 — Who may testify