(1)  At the first appearance before the Supreme Court of a defendant committed to the Court on a plea of guilty entered before justices, the Supreme Court is to list the defendant for sentencing on a day fixed by the Court.

(2)  At the first or a subsequent appearance before the Supreme Court of a defendant committed to the Court on any plea, other than a plea of guilty –

(a) subject to subsection (2A) , the defendant or a Crown law officer may apply for an order that the witnesses named in the application give evidence on oath in preliminary proceedings; and

(b) the Court may make such an order; and

(c) the Court is to warn the defendant that he or she may not be permitted at trial to give evidence of an alibi or to call witnesses in support of an alibi unless he or she gives the Director of Public Prosecutions written notice of that alibi and of those witnesses within the time provided in section 368A ; and

(d) the Court is to warn the defendant of the requirements of section 368B(1) .

(2A)  An application may only be made under subsection (2)(a) if the applicant is granted leave of the Court to apply as a result of one or more of the following special circumstances:

(a) if the applicant is the defendant, relevant evidence in respect of the witness to which the application relates was not disclosed to the defendant before the committal order in respect of the offence was made;

(b) if the applicant is a Crown Law Officer, it is in the interests of justice to allow the Crown to examine the witness to which the application relates;

(c) the witness to which the application relates is ill or is going to leave the jurisdiction indefinitely;

(d) both the defendant and the Crown Law Officer agree that a preliminary proceedings order should be made under the application;

(e) it is in the interests of justice, on any other grounds, for the preliminary proceedings order to be made under the application.

(3)  The Supreme Court may only make an order under subsection (2)(b) requiring a witness named in the order to give evidence on oath in preliminary proceedings –

(a) if the defendant, or Crown law officer, in his or her application for the order has identified a matter in respect of which the witness is to be questioned, has specified why the evidence of the witness is relevant to that matter and has specified why cross-examination, or examination, of the witness is justified; and

(b) if, in a case where the witness is an affected person, the Court is satisfied that exceptional circumstances require the witness to give evidence on oath at preliminary proceedings; and

(c) the Court is satisfied that it is necessary in the interests of justice.

(4)  An order under subsection (2)(b)  –

(a) in respect of a witness who is not an affected person, may limit the matters on which the witness may be examined, cross-examined and re-examined and impose conditions in relation to such examination, cross-examination and re-examination; and

(b) in respect of a witness who is an affected person, must limit the matters on which the witness may be examined, cross-examined and re-examined and may impose conditions in relation to such examination, cross-examination and re-examination.

(5)  If the Supreme Court makes an order under subsection (2)(b) , the Court is to remand the defendant in custody or admit him or her on bail to appear before justices, at the time and on the day specified in the order.

(6)  In this section –

affected person means the following:

(a) an affected person within the meaning of the Justices Act 1959 ;

(b) a prescribed witness within the meaning of the Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001 .