ABSTRACT
There are several points to be made about the interpretation of this provision: (a) ‘In any proceedings’: ‘proceedings’ means criminal proceedings, whether
(b) ‘The court may refuse to allow evidence ... to be given’: the idea of discretion appears at first sight to be expressed in two ways. Section 78(1) provides that, in the circumstances subsequently set out, ‘the court may refuse to allow evidence on which the prosecution proposes to rely to be given ...’. Those circumstances are where ‘the admission of the evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that the court ought not to admit it’. It seems curious that, if the court decides that these circumstances exist, there should remain any room for the exercise of further discretion. On this view, in the opening words of the sub-section, ‘may’ means ‘shall’. This approach has now been adopted by the Court of Appeal.52
