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Among his powers under clause 13, the judge may order the
prosecutor to serve on the accused and deliver to the court a
in statement containing (under amendments to be introduced at the
committee stage) a concise account of the facts and the inferences
sought to be drawn from those facts on which the prosecution case is
based, and also a statement of any proposition of law specifically
applicable to the prosecution case on which the prosecutor proposes
to rely.
It will be seen that the prosecution may be ordered at this
early stage to disclose its case, as part of the reform to ensure
that the true issues in the case are identified before the jury is
empanalled.
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The complementary reform relating to the defence case is
contained in clause 16 by which the judge may order the accused to
serve on the prosecutor and deliver to the court a written statement
(known as the defence response) indicating, (under amendments to be
in made at the committee stage), with reference to the prosecution case
statement, the facts and inferences on which he takes issue with the
prosecution, as well as a written statement of all propositions of
law in reply to any propositions of law stated by the prosecutor.
It will be seen that the defence response is to be purely
defensive and responsive, namely what does the defence have to say
about the prosecution's facts and law. The accused is not obliged
under this proposed reform to reveal his positive case, and in that
very real way, his right to silence is preserved. This toned-down
version of the defence case represents a workable compromise of