Section 50 of the Evidence Act 1906 (WA) requires the trial judge to satisfy himself that the jury has been informed of the need for caution regarding a witness who may have an interest in giving false testimony, but does not require a 'full' corroboration warning in the traditional sense. A cooperating witness who receives benefits for testimony is not analogous to a prison informer where the witness is not implicating someone already suspected of a crime. The Weiss proviso test — whether the court can conclude that the irregularity would or should have had no effect on the verdict — applies to prosecution non-disclosure cases. Recanting witness evidence is assessed under the standard fresh evidence framework of cogency, plausibility and relevancy.
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