Notice of alibi
331 Notice of alibi
(1) An accused person shall not upon his trial on indictment, without the leave of the court, adduce evidence of an alibi unless, before the expiration of the prescribed period, he gives to the Director of Public Prosecutions written notice of particulars of the alibi and unless the notice contains the name and address of any person whom he claims can support the alibi or, if such name or address is not known to him at the time he gave the notice:
(a) he gives in the notice all information in his possession that may be of material assistance in locating that person; and
(b) the court is satisfied that before giving that notice he had made all reasonable attempts to obtain that name and address and that thereafter he continued to make all reasonable attempts to obtain and to inform the Director of Public Prosecutions of that name and address.
(2) A notice under this section shall be duly given if it is delivered to or left at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions or sent by certified mail addressed to him at his office.
(3) The court shall not refuse leave under this section if it appears to the court that the accused person was not, upon his committal for trial, informed by that court of the requirements of this section.
(4) Evidence tending to disprove an alibi may, subject to a direction by the court, be given before or after evidence is given in support of the alibi.
(5) A notice purporting to be given under this section on behalf of the accused person by his solicitor shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be given with the authority of the accused person.
In this section:
evidence of an alibi means evidence tending to show that by reason of the presence of the accused person at a particular place or in a particular area at a particular time he was not, or was unlikely to have been, at the place where the offence is alleged to have been committed at the time of its alleged commission.
the prescribed period means the period of 14 days after the date of the committal for trial of the accused person.
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