Page 3656 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 26 August 2008
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This amendment removes the provisions of the bill referring to notices of committal proceedings and replaces them with provisions that require the service of all committal evidence on the accused and for the committal evidence to be provided to the courts in accordance with the court rules. The intention is to provide a statutory basis for the provision of the prosecution brief to the accused in advance of the committal. The statutory requirement to serve a brief of evidence on the accused supports the human right to a fair trial by ensuring that the current practices whereby the prosecution provide a brief of evidence in advance of a hearing are preserved so that the accused is fully apprised of the charges and evidence against him or her before the case begins.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment 1.64, as amended, agreed to.
Amendments 1.65 to 1.71, by leave, taken together.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (5.42): I will be opposing these amendments.
Amendments negatived.
Proposed new amendment 1.71A.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (5.43): I move amendment No 6 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 3724].
This inserts new amendment 1.71A. The intention of the amendment is that committal proceedings are to proceed by the prosecution tendering the written statements and exhibits rather than calling witnesses to give oral evidence. It clarifies that the court must admit the statements and exhibits but does not seek to override the laws of evidence that apply to the admissibility of evidence generally. The section is worded in a clearer manner than the provision in the bill that it is replacing.
Proposed new amendment 1.71A agreed to.
Amendment 1.72 agreed to.
Amendment 1.73.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (5.44): I move amendment No 7 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 3724].
This amendment makes provision for the prosecution to apply to the court to call a witness to give oral evidence in chief. It is not intended that this provision be used for all criminal hearings, as the clear intention of the policies informing the bill is that
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