Criminal Procedure Act 2021

Amendment of section 34 of Act of 2010

18. Section 34 of the Act of 2010 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) Where the defence intends to call an expert witness or adduce expert evidence, whether or not in response to such evidence presented by the prosecution, notice of the intention shall be given to the prosecution at least 28 days prior to—

(a) the scheduled date of the start of the trial,

(b) the scheduled date of a preliminary trial hearing (within the meaning of Part 2 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2021), where the defence intends to call the expert witness or adduce the expert evidence, as the case may be, at that hearing, or

(c) such earlier date as the court may direct.”,

and

(b) in subsection (5), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b) —

“(b) where notice was not given within the period specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), as the case may be, of subsection (2) —

(i) it would not, in all the circumstances of the case, have been reasonably possible for the defence to have done so, or

(ii) it is otherwise necessary in the interests of justice that the expert witness give evidence or the expert evidence be adduced,

or”.