South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts34CA—Statement of protected witness
(1) A court may admit
evidence of the nature and contents of a statement made outside the court by a
protected witness from the person to whom the statement was made if—
(a) the
court, having regard to the circumstances in which the statement was made and
any other relevant factors, is satisfied that the statement has sufficient
probative value to justify its admission; and
(b)
—
(i)
the protected witness has been called, or is available to
be called, as a witness in the proceedings; and
(ii)
the court gives permission for the protected witness to
be cross-examined on matters arising from the evidence.
(2) A court may only
give permission to allow a protected witness to be cross-examined on such
matters if satisfied that the cross-examination is likely to elicit material
of substantial probative value or material that would substantially reduce the
credibility of the evidence.
(3) Evidence that is
admitted in a trial under this section of the nature and contents of a
statement made outside the court by a protected witness may be used to prove
the truth of the facts asserted in the statement.
(4) In a criminal
trial, the judge must, if evidence of the nature and contents of a statement
made outside the court by a protected witness has been admitted but the
protected person has not, for some reason, been cross-examined on matters
arising from the evidence, warn the jury that the evidence should be
scrutinised with particular care because it has not been tested in the usual
way.
(5) In this
section—
"protected witness" means—
(a) a
young child; or
(b) a
person who suffers from a mental disability that adversely affects the
person's capacity to give a coherent account of the person's experiences or to
respond rationally to questions.