EVIDENCE ACT 1929 - SECT 34J

EVIDENCE ACT 1929 - SECT 34J

34J—Special provision for taking evidence where witness is seriously ill

        (1)         Where a person who may be in a position to give information in relation to an indictable offence is dangerously ill and, in the opinion of a medical practitioner, unlikely to recover from the illness, a magistrate or justice may take a statement from that person.

        (2)         The statement is to be a sworn statement unless the magistrate or justice determines that the person making the statement does not have sufficient understanding of the obligation to be truthful entailed in giving sworn evidence.

        (3)         Where a person is subsequently charged with an indictable offence to which the statement is relevant, the statement is admissible in evidence at the committal proceedings or trial of the charge if it is established—

            (a)         that the person from whom the statement was taken is dead or unable to give evidence because of illness or infirmity; and

            (b)         that the prosecutor or defendant (as the case requires) had reasonable notice of the proposal to take evidence and a reasonable opportunity to attend and cross-examine the person.