No. 2 of 1889.
415
was not signed by the magistrate or other officer as aforesaid, it appears, in manner aforesaid, that the depositions wherein such examination was included were so signed.
take
dangerously
32. (1) Whereas it may happen that a person, who is dangerously ill, and unable to travel, may be able to give deposition of material and important information relating to an indictable offence or to a person accused thereof, and it is desirable, in the interests of truth and justice, that means should be provided for perpetuating such testimony and for rendering the same available in cases of necessity :-
Whenever it is made to appear, to the satisfaction of any magistrate or justice of the peace, that any person who is dangerously ill and unable to travel, is able and willing to give material information relating to an indictable offence or to a person accused thereof, it shall be lawful for the said magistrate or any justice of the peace to take in writing his statement upon oath, and such magistrate or justice shall thereupon subscribe the same, and shall add thereto by way of caption a statement of his reason for taking the same, and of the day and place when and where the same was taken, and of the names of the persons, if any, assisting at the taking thereof, and, if the same relates to any offence for which any accused person is already committed or bailed to appear for trial, shall transmit the same with the said addition to the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and in all other cases to the magistrates' clerk, who are respectively required to preserve the same and file it for record; and if afterwards, on the trial of any offender or offence to which the same may relate, the person who made the said statement is proved to be dead, or if it is proved that there is no reasonable probability that such person will be able to attend and give evidence at the trial, it shall be lawful to read such statement in evidence, either for or against the person accused, without further proof thereof, if the same purports to be signed by the magistrate or justice by or before whom it purports to be taken, and provided it is proved, to the satisfaction of the court, that reasonable notice of the intention to take such statement has been served on the person (whether prosecutor, or person accused) against whom it is proposed to be read in evidence, and that such person, or his counsel or solicitor, had or might have
As amended by No. 23 of 1915, No. 20 of 1922 and Law Am. Ord., 1923.
ill, and not recover and evidence in certain events. 30 & 31 Vict. c. 35, s. 6.