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“Evidence | |
1 (1) Evidence given at a retrial must be given orally if it was given orally | |
at the original trial, unless— | |
(a) section 101 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 applies | |
(admissibility of hearsay evidence where a witness is | 5 |
unavailable); or | |
(b) the witness is unavailable to give evidence, otherwise than as | |
mentioned in subsection (2) of that section, and section | |
99(1)(d) of that Act applies (admission of hearsay evidence | |
under residual discretion). | 10 |
(2) Paragraph 5 of Schedule 3 to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (use | |
of depositions) does not apply at a retrial to a deposition read as | |
evidence at the original trial.” | |
General | |
117 Rules of court | 15 |
(1) Rules of court may make such provision as appears to the appropriate | |
authority to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of this Chapter; and the | |
appropriate authority is the authority entitled to make the rules. | |
(2) The rules may make provision about the procedure to be followed and other | |
conditions to be fulfilled by a party proposing to tender a statement in | 20 |
evidence under any provision of this Chapter. | |
(3) The rules may require a party proposing to tender the evidence to serve on | |
each party to the proceedings such notice, and such particulars of or relating to | |
the evidence, as may be prescribed. | |
(4) The rules may provide that the evidence is to be treated as admissible by | 25 |
agreement of the parties if— | |
(a) a notice has been served in accordance with provision made under | |
subsection (3), and | |
(b) no counter-notice in the prescribed form objecting to the admission of | |
the evidence has been served by a party. | 30 |
(5) If a party proposing to tender evidence fails to comply with a prescribed | |
requirement applicable to it— | |
(a) the evidence is not admissible except with the court’s leave; | |
(b) where leave is given the court or jury may draw such inferences from | |
the failure as appear proper; | 35 |
(c) the failure may be taken into account by the court in considering the | |
exercise of its powers with respect to costs. | |
(6) In considering whether or how to exercise any of its powers under subsection | |
(5) the court shall have regard to whether there is any justification for the | |
failure to comply with the requirement. | 40 |
(7) A person shall not be convicted of an offence solely on an inference drawn | |
under subsection (5)(b). | |
(8) Rules under this section may— | |
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(a) limit the application of any provision of the rules to prescribed | |
circumstances; | |
(b) subject any provision of the rules to prescribed exceptions; | |
(c) make different provision for different cases or circumstances. | |
(9) Nothing in this section prejudices the generality of any enactment conferring | 5 |
power to make rules of court; and no particular provision of this section | |
prejudices any general provision of it. | |
(10) In this section— | |
“prescribed” means prescribed by rules of court; | |
“rules of court” means— | 10 |
(a) Crown Court Rules; | |
(b) Criminal Appeal Rules; | |
(c) rules under section 144 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 | |
(c. 43). | |
118 Proof of statements in documents | 15 |
Where a statement in a document is admissible as evidence in criminal | |
proceedings, the statement may be proved by producing either— | |
(a) the document, or | |
(b) (whether or not the document exists) a copy of the document or of the | |
material part of it, | 20 |
authenticated in whatever way the court may approve. | |
119 Interpretation of Chapter 2 | |
(1) In this Chapter— | |
“copy”, in relation to a document, means anything on to which | |
information recorded in the document has been copied, by whatever | 25 |
means and whether directly or indirectly; | |
“criminal proceedings” means criminal proceedings in relation to which | |
the strict rules of evidence apply; | |
“defendant”, in relation to criminal proceedings, means a person charged | |
with an offence in those proceedings; | 30 |
“document” means anything in which information of any description is | |
recorded; | |
“oral evidence” includes evidence which, by reason of a defect of speech | |
or hearing, a person called as a witness gives in writing or by signs; | |
“statutory provision” means any provision contained in, or in an | 35 |
instrument made under, this or any other Act, including any Act | |
passed after this Act. | |
(2) Section 100 (statements and matters stated) contains other general | |
interpretative provisions. | |
(3) Where a defendant is charged with two or more offences in the same criminal | 40 |
proceedings, this Chapter has effect as if each offence were charged in separate | |
proceedings. | |
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120 Armed forces | |
Schedule 6 (hearsay evidence: armed forces) has effect. | |
121 Repeals etc | |
(1) In the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (c. 33), the following provisions (which are to | |
some extent superseded by provisions of this Chapter) are repealed— | 5 |
(a) Part II and Schedule 2 (which relate to documentary evidence); | |
(b) in Schedule 13, paragraphs 2 to 5 (which relate to documentary | |
evidence in service courts etc). | |
(2) In consequence of the repeal by subsection (1) above of section 25 of the | |
Criminal Justice Act 1988, section 3 of the Criminal Justice (International Co- | 10 |
operation) Act 1990 (c. 5) is amended as follows— | |
(a) in subsection (8) for “section 25 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988” there | |
is substituted “Article 5 of the Criminal Justice (Evidence, Etc.) | |
(Northern Ireland) Order 1988”; | |
(b) in subsection (10) the words from “and” to the end are omitted. | 15 |
Chapter 3 | |
Miscellaneous and supplemental | |
122 Evidence by video recording | |
(1) This section applies where— | |
(a) a person is called as a witness in proceedings for an offence triable only | 20 |
on indictment, or for a prescribed offence triable either way, | |
(b) the person claims to have witnessed (whether visually or in any other | |
way)— | |
(i) events alleged by the prosecution to include conduct | |
constituting the offence or part of the offence, or | 25 |
(ii) events closely connected with such events, | |
(c) he has previously given an account of the events in question (whether | |
in response to questions asked or otherwise), | |
(d) the account was given at a time when those events were fresh in the | |
person’s memory (or would have been, assuming the truth of the claim | 30 |
mentioned in paragraph (b)), | |
(e) a video recording was made of the account, | |
(f) the court has made a direction that the recording should be admitted as | |
evidence in chief of the witness, and the direction has not been | |
rescinded, and | 35 |
(g) the recording is played in the proceedings in accordance with the | |
direction. | |
(2) If, or to the extent that, the witness in his oral evidence in the proceedings | |
asserts the truth of the statements made by him in the recorded account, they | |
shall be treated as if made by him in that evidence. | 40 |
(3) A direction under subsection (1)(f)— | |
(a) may not be made in relation to a recorded account given by the | |
defendant; | |
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(b) may be made only if it appears to the court that— | |
(i) the witness’s recollection of the events in question is likely to | |
have been significantly better when he gave the recorded | |
account than it will be when he gives oral evidence in the | |
proceedings, and | 5 |
(ii) it is in the interests of justice for the recording to be admitted, | |
having regard in particular to the matters mentioned in | |
subsection (4). | |
(4) Those matters are— | |
(a) the interval between the time of the events in question and the time | 10 |
when the recorded account was made; | |
(b) any other factors that might affect the reliability of what the witness | |
said in that account; | |
(c) the quality of the recording; | |
(d) any views of the witness as to whether his evidence in chief should be | 15 |
given orally or by means of the recording. | |
(5) For the purposes of subsection (2) it does not matter if the statements in the | |
recorded account were not made on oath. | |
(6) In this section “prescribed” means of a description specified in an order made | |
by the Secretary of State. | 20 |
123 Video evidence: further provisions | |
(1) Where a video recording is admitted under section 122, the witness may not | |
give evidence in chief otherwise than by means of the recording as to any | |
matter which, in the opinion of the court, has been dealt with adequately in the | |
recorded account. | 25 |
(2) The reference in subsection (1)(f) of section 122 to the admission of a recording | |
includes a reference to the admission of part of the recording; and references in | |
that section and this one to the video recording or to the witness’s recorded | |
account shall, where appropriate, be read accordingly. | |
(3) In considering whether any part of a recording should be not admitted under | 30 |
section 122, the court must consider— | |
(a) whether admitting that part would carry a risk of prejudice to the | |
defendant, and | |
(b) if so, whether the interests of justice nevertheless require it to be | |
admitted in view of the desirability of showing the whole, or | 35 |
substantially the whole, of the recorded interview. | |
(4) A court may not make a direction under section 122(1)(f) in relation to any | |
proceedings unless— | |
(a) the Secretary of State has notified the court that arrangements can be | |
made, in the area in which it appears to the court that the proceedings | 40 |
will take place, for implementing directions under that section, and | |
(b) the notice has not been withdrawn. | |
(5) Nothing in section 122 affects the admissibility of any video recording which | |
would be admissible apart from that section. | |
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