Verbal Act
A Level Academy Islamabad
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LearningTranscript
00:00People are people, so what they say isn't always the most reliable thing.
00:05That's why court cases need people to show up and say what they say under oath, in front of everybody.
00:11Otherwise, hearsay comes into play, which prohibits out-of-court statements from being used to prove the truth of the matter being said,
00:18and which is explained in greater detail in LegalYou's hearsay video.
00:22But there are other kinds of out-of-court statements that can be admitted in a case.
00:27These are called verbal acts.
00:29Verbal acts, also known as legally operative facts, are words that constitute legal acts or have legal consequences in themselves.
00:38A verbal act is not hearsay because hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered for its truth.
00:44In other words, the party wanting to use the statement in court wants the jury to believe it's true.
00:50Verbal acts, on the other hand, aren't offered for their truth.
00:53It doesn't matter if they are true or not.
00:56Take a defamation case as an example.
00:58You want to prove the defendant made a hurtful statement about you that wasn't true.
01:02You'll need someone that heard the defendant say it.
01:05But isn't that hearsay, then?
01:07No, because you are not using the statement to prove that what was said was true.
01:12Just the opposite.
01:13You want to prove that the terrible thing said about you is false.
01:17But you do have to prove that the statement was said.
01:20Another example is the acceptance of an offer in the making of a contract.
01:24It doesn't matter whether the person was speaking the truth when he or she agreed to the contract.
01:29It only matters that they said the words.
01:32Threats, warnings, and promises can also be verbal acts and can be admissible in evidence,
01:37even though they also happened outside the courtroom.
01:40Closely related to verbal acts is what's known as a verbal part of an act.
01:45This is where a physical act is ambiguous or equivocal,
01:48meaning that a person's action by itself is inexplicable or could mean different things.
01:53But if words spoken at the same time explain the act,
01:57then they are considered the verbal part of that act.
02:00For example, if someone says to another person while handing them money,
02:04this is a loan, then it would be admissible to prove that it wasn't a gift.
02:08For the verbal part of an act to be admitted, it must first meet four criteria.
02:131. The conduct described by the words must matter to the issue at hand.
02:182. The conduct must be equivocal, or rather, up for interpretation without having words to clarify.
02:253. The words should help give legal significance to the conduct,
02:29such as making it obvious that a bribe is a bribe.
02:33And 4. The words said must accompany the conduct.
02:37The conduct and the verbal act must be made by the same person at that specific time.
02:42In general, though, context is an important factor in using a statement as hearsay or a verbal act.
02:48The same exact words may be a verbal act in one scenario, but hearsay in another.
02:53For advice regarding your particular situation, reach out to LegalYou for clarity on, well, getting clarity.
03:01LegalYou. Where you are your own best lawyer.