Taking evidence at committal proceedings
114 Taking evidence at committal proceedings
Where a charge is not admitted by a defendant in committal proceedings, the following procedure applies:
the prosecutor will tender the statements and other material filed in the Court as part of the committal brief and the Court will, subject to any objections as to admissibility upheld by the Court, admit them in evidence;
the prosecutor will call a witness whose statement has been filed in the
Court as part of the committal brief for oral examination if—
the defendant has filed and given to the prosecution a notice in accordance with section 112(2) indicating that the defendant required production of that witness;
and
the
Court grants permission to call that witness for oral examination;
the prosecutor may, with the permission of the Court, call oral evidence in support of the case for the prosecution;
if the defendant has filed and given to the prosecution a notice in accordance with section 112(1) indicating that the defendant intends to assert that there is no case to answer on the charge—the defendant may give or call evidence, or make submissions, in support of that assertion;
the prosecutor may call evidence in rebuttal of evidence given for the defence.
The
Court will not grant permission to call a witness for oral examination under subsection (1) unless it is satisfied that there are special reasons for doing so.
In determining whether special reasons exist for granting permission to call a witness for oral examination, the Court must have regard to—
the need to ensure that the case for the prosecution is adequately disclosed; and
the need to ensure that the issues for trial are adequately defined; and
the
Court's need to ensure (subject to this Act) that the evidence is sufficient to put the defendant on trial; and
the interests of justice, but if the witness is the victim of an alleged sexual offence, the victim of an alleged offence involving domestic abuse (within the meaning of the Intervention
Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009), a person with a cognitive impairment that adversely affects the person's capacity to give a coherent account of the person's experiences or to respond rationally to questions or a child of or under the age of 14 years, the Court must not grant permission unless satisfied that the interests of justice cannot be adequately served except by doing so.
If a witness is called for oral examination the usual oath will be administered (unless the witness is not liable to the obligation of an oath) and the witness will be examined, cross-examined and re-examined in the usual manner.
The statute text is free to read above. View subscription options to unlock the case-law research tools for each provision.