ABSTRACT

The English Criminal Justice Act, passed in 1967, introduced, in s 1, an alternative procedure by which magistrates in committal proceedings could commit an accused person for trial without consideration of the evidence at the preliminary enquiry. That section was later re-enacted in s 6(2) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, whereas s 6(1) dealt with committal on consideration of the evidence. In both cases the prosecution must establish a prima facie case before the magistrate. Section 6(2) of the 1980 Act provided:

Section 102 of the 1980 Act dealt with the admissibility of written statements in lieu of oral evidence as depositions in a preliminary enquiry as follows:

The conditions in sub-s (2) relate to requirements that the statement: must be signed by the maker; must contain a declaration by the maker to the effect that it is true (which if false is subject to criminal prosecution) and that a copy of the statement must fi rst be served on the opposing party along with a notice that he could object to the admissibility of the statement. It appears, therefore, that once these conditions are satisfi ed, a written statement may be admitted as a deposition in a preliminary enquiry without the need for oral evidence. This is, of course, subject to the right of the court or the defendant to require the person who gave the statement to attend for cross-examination. If this happens, then the magistrate can no longer commit without consideration of the evidence, since all the evidence would no longer consist of written statements.