Problem: The law of evidence is "founded apparently on the propositions that all jurymen are deaf to reason, that all witnesses are presumptively liars and that all documents are presumptively forgeries" (per Harvey, in 'The Advocate's Devil', quoted in Cross & Tapper on Evidence, 12th Edition at p. 2).
Discuss the factors, motivations and objectives that led to the state of affairs alluded to in the above excerpt and the extent to which they remain relevant in an adversarial legal system of the 21st Century.