Competence and compellability – defendants in criminal proceedings
17 Competence and compellability – defendants in criminal proceedings
This section applies only in a criminal proceeding.
(2) A defendant is not competent to give evidence as a witness for the prosecution.
(3) An associated defendant is not compellable to give evidence for or against a defendant in a criminal proceeding, unless the associated defendant is being tried separately from the defendant.
(4) If a witness is an associated defendant who is being tried jointly with the defendant in the proceeding, the court is to satisfy itself (if there is a jury, in the jury's absence) that the witness is aware of the effect of subsection (3).
Note for subsections (3) and (4)
associated defendant is defined in the Dictionary.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory statementSecond reading speech
The statute text is free to read above. View subscription options to unlock the case-law research tools for each provision.