New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 1986 - SECT 284

284 Depositions by persons dangerously ill

(1) If it appears to an authorised person that--

(a) a person who is able to give material information about an indictable offence is dangerously ill, and

(b) the person's evidence will probably be lost if not immediately taken,

the authorised person may take the deposition of the person in connection with the offence in the same way as if a prosecution for the offence were then pending before a court.

(2) The deposition must be in the form prescribed by the regulations and must be signed by the authorised person.

(3) As soon as practicable after the deposition is taken, a copy of the deposition must be delivered to the Attorney General, to the Director of Public Prosecutions and to each person whom the deposition tends to incriminate.

(4) If practicable, each person whom the deposition tends to incriminate is entitled, before being committed or placed on trial, to be given full opportunity to cross-examine the deponent.

(5) If in proceedings against an accused person--

(a) for the offence to which the deposition relates, or

(b) for the murder or manslaughter of the deponent, in the case of his or her death or alleged death by reason of the offence,

it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that the deponent is dead, or so ill as not to be able to travel or to give evidence without a risk of endangering the deponent's life, the deposition may be admitted as evidence for or against the accused person, whether or not it was taken in the presence or hearing of the prosecutor or the accused person.

(6) In this section--

"authorised person" means any of the following--

(a) a Judge,

(b) a justice of the peace who is a registrar of the Local Court or the Drug Court,

(c) a justice of the peace who is an employee of the Attorney General's Department authorised in writing by the Attorney General to be an authorised person for the purposes of this section.