Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts(1) Except as provided by this section, a person charged in a criminal proceeding shall not, if he or she gives evidence in the proceeding, be asked a question tending to show that the person has committed or has been convicted of or has been charged with an offence (other than the offence to which the proceeding relates), that the person has otherwise engaged in improper conduct or that the person has a bad reputation, if the question is asked merely for the purpose—
(a) of showing that the person charged is guilty of the offence to which the proceeding relates because of the person's disposition towards wrongdoing, his or her tendency to commit crime or his or her bad character; or
(b) of attacking the credibility of the person charged.
(2) If, in a criminal proceeding—
(a) the person charged has, personally or by his or her lawyer, asked questions of a witness for the prosecution with a view to establishing his or her own good character; or
(b) the person charged has given or called evidence of his or her own good character; or
(c) the nature or conduct of the defence is such as to involve imputations on the character of the prosecutor or a witness for the prosecution, being imputations that are not such as would necessarily arise from a proper presentation of the defence; or
(d) the person charged has given evidence against another person tried jointly with him or her for the offence with which the person is charged;
the person charged, if he or she gives evidence, may, with the permission of the court, be asked and is bound to answer a question of a kind referred to in subsection (1).
(3) A court shall not, because of the operation of subsection (2), permit a question of the kind referred to in subsection (1) to be asked of the person charged unless the court is of the opinion that the question is relevant to his or her credibility as a witness and that, in the interests of justice and in the circumstances of the case, it is proper to permit the question to be asked.