Welcome to LawTutorial.in – Your Partner in Understanding Law
Join Now

BSA 2023 — Section 17: Admissions by persons whose position must be proved

§ SECTION 17 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER II — RELEVANCY OF FACTS

Admissions by persons whose position must be proved as against party to suit

The borrowed admission: a third person’s words enter the suit — if they would bind him in his own case, and were spoken while his position or liability lasted.

How to read Section 17

A bridge for a stranger’s words — guarded by two filters.

What it is about

Cases that must prove a non-party’s position or liability — the tenant behind the collector, the borrower behind the guarantor.

The mirror test

The stranger’s words count only if they would be relevant against him in a suit on that very position or liability.

The clock

And only if spoken whilst he occupied the position or bore the liability — the same time-lock idea as § 16.

The bare Act

The section in its own words — colour-keyed by what each phrase does.

Section 17 · verbatim

Statements made by persons whose position or liability, it is necessary to prove as against any party to the suit, are admissions, if such statements would be relevant as against such persons in relation to such position or liability in a suit brought by or against them, and if they are made whilst the person making them occupies such position or is subject to such liability.

Illustration

A undertakes to collect rents for B. B sues A for not collecting rent due from C to B. A denies that rent was due from C to B. A statement by C that he owed B rent is an admission, and is a relevant fact as against A, if A denies that C did owe rent to B.

In short: where a suit turns on a stranger’s position or liability, his own words about it come in — passed through two filters: the mirror (they would bind him in his own suit) and the clock (spoken while the position lasted).

→ § 16 asked who speaks for a party; § 17 asks whose words a party must answer for even from outside the suit.

Glossary

position or liability

The stranger’s legal situation the suit must establish — tenancy, debt, agency.

the mirror test

Would the words be relevant against the speaker in his own suit? Only then do they travel.

whilst occupying

The clock — words after the position or liability ended do not count.

third-party admission

The section’s whole subject — words borrowed from outside the array of parties.

the rent triangle

B (landlord) · A (collector) · C (tenant) — the illustration’s cast.

The picture

Two filters between a stranger’s words and the suit.

A STRANGER’SSTATEMENTFILTER 1 · THE MIRRORwould it bind the speaker himself?FILTER 2 · THE CLOCKspoken while the position lasted?ADMISSIONusable against the partyboth filters must pass — fail either, and the stranger’s words stay outside

The section, part by part

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

the ruleBorrowed words — with a mirror and a clock

In one lineWhen a case must prove a third person’s position or liability, that person’s own statements count — if they would bind him himself, and were spoken while the position lasted.
1The stranger’s wordsC is not a party — but hisliability must be proved2Two teststhe words would bind C himself —and were spoken while liable3ADMISSION vs AC’s words enter the suitbetween B and Aborrowed admissions — passed through a mirror test and a clock
Statements made by persons whose position or liability, it is necessary to prove as against any party to the suit,the third partysomeone who is not a party — but whose position or liability the case must establish (C, the tenant).
are admissions,the resulthis words can count…
if such statements would be relevant as against such persons in relation to such position or liability in a suit brought by or against them,test 1 · the mirror…only if the words would bind the speaker himself, were he sued on that position or liability…
and if they are made whilst the person making them occupies such position or is subject to such liability.⚠ test 2 · the clock…and only if spoken while the position or liability lasted.
ExampleA bank sues the guarantor G for borrower X’s default. X’s signed acknowledgment of the loan — made while he was liable — is an admission usable against G: it would bind X himself, and the clock was running.
✗ Not thisBoth filters are strict: C’s words after the tenancy ended fail the clock; and words that would not bind C in his own suit (a bar-room boast about someone else’s debt) fail the mirror.

IllustrationThe rent triangle

In one lineB sues his rent-collector A; A says C owed nothing. C’s own words — “I owed B rent” — enter the case against A.
the trianglewho is whoB (landlord) sues A (his rent-collector) for not collecting from C (the tenant). A’s defence: no rent was due at all.
C’s statementthe borrowed admissionC’s “I owed B rent” would bind C in a suit on that rent — and was spoken while he was the tenant — so it counts against A.
B — the landlordA — the collector, suedC — the tenant“I owed B rent”counts against AB sues A: rent uncollectedC’s own admission of the rent defeats A’s denial — though C is no party to the suit.
ExampleNote why the section is needed at all: under § 16, C’s words bind nobody — he is neither party nor agent. § 17 builds the bridge, but only through the mirror and the clock.

Connected provisions

§ 16

Who may make admissions

§ 16’s speakers stand inside the suit; § 17 borrows one voice from outside.

§ 15

Admission defined

The definition all these speaker-sections serve.

§ 18 · next

Persons expressly referred to

The last of the speaker rules: “go and ask him” — and his answer binds you.

lineage

IEA 1872, § 19

This provision carries forward section 19 of the repealed Evidence Act.