1224 THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, DECEMBER 9, 1932.
Examination of witnesses
for accused.
c. 35, s. 3.
(4) Provided nevertheless that nothing herein contained. shall prevent the prosecutor in any case from giving in evidence any admission or confession or other statement of the accused made at any time which by law would be admissible as evidence against him.
77. If the accused gives evidence or makes any such statement or is unwilling to do so, the magistrate bearing the 30 & 31 Vict. case shall then demand and require of the accused or his coun- sel whether he desires to call any witness or evidence, and if he so calls or desires to call any witness or evidence, the magis- trate shall in the presence of the accused take such evidence upon oath, both examination and cross-examination, of the witnesses who may be called by the accused or his counsel and who know anything relating to the facts or circumstances of the case or anything tending to prove the innocence of the accused, and shall put the same into writing, and the deposi- tions of such witnesses shall be read over to and signed respec- tively by the witnesses so examined and shall also be signed by the magistrate taking the same.
Binding over
of prosecutor 11 & 12 Vict.
and witnessed.
c. 42, s. 20; 30 & 31 Vict.
c. 35, s. 3.
First Schedule. Form No. 71.
First Schedule. Form No. 72.
First Schedule. Form No. 73.
First Schedule. Form No 74.
78.-(1) On the hearing of an indictable offence as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the magistrate to bind by recognizance the prosecutor and his witnesses or any of thei to appear at the criminal session of the court at which the accused is to be tried then and there to prosecute, or to pros- ecute and give evidence, or to give evidence alone, as the case may be, against the accused; and the recognizance shall parti- cularly specify the profession, art or trade of every such person entering into or acknowledging the same, together with his Christian or other name and surname.
(2) Such witnesses for the accused as may be called and examined as aforesaid, not being witnesses as to the character of the accused merely, who, in the opinion of the magistrate, give evidence in any way material to the case or tending to prove the innocence of the accused shall be bound by re- cognizance to appear and give evidence at the criminal session of the court at which the accused is to be tried in the same manner as the prosecutor and his witnesses.
(3) The said recognizance, being duly acknowledged by the person entering into the same, shall be subscribed by the magistrate before whom the same is acknowledged, and a notice thereof, signed by the said magistrate, shall at the same time be given to the person bound thereby: Provided always that if any such witness for the prosecution or defence refuses to enter into or acknowledge such recognizance as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the magistrate, by his warrant, to commit him to prison there to be safely kept until after the trial of the accused, unless in the meantime such witness duly enters into such recognizance as aforesaid before a magis- trale: Provided nevertheless that if afterwards, from want of sufficient evidence in that behalf or other cause, the magis- trate before whom the accused has been brought does not commit him or hold him to bail for the offence with which he is charged, it shall be lawful for a magistrate, by his order in that behalf, to order and direct the Superintendent of Prisons to discharge such witness from prison, and the said Superintendent shall thereupon forthwith discharge him accordingly: Provided further that all such recognizances so taken, together with the written information, if any, or sum-