On 21/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 21/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 21/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 24/08/2012.
278.
—(1) In any trial, the accused may not, without the leave of the court, offer evidence in support of an alibi unless he gives notice of particulars of the alibi.
(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1), the accused may not call a witness to give such evidence without the leave of the court unless the following conditions apply:
(a)
the notice under subsection (1) includes the name and address of the witness or, if the accused does not know the name or address at the time he gives the notice, any information he has that might help find the witness;
(b)
if the name or the address is not included in that notice, the court is satisfied that the accused, before giving the notice, took and continued taking all reasonable steps to find out the name or address;
(c)
if the name or the address is not included in that notice, but the accused later discovers the name or address or receives other information that might help to find the witness, he immediately gives notice of the name, address or other information, as the case may be; and
(d)
if the accused is notified by, or on behalf of, the Public Prosecutor that the witness has not been traced by the name or at the address given, the accused gives notice immediately of the information he has or later receives.
(3) Subject to any directions by the court as to the time it is to be given, evidence to disprove an alibi may be given before or after evidence in support of the alibi.
(4) Unless the contrary is proved, a notice offered under this section on behalf of the accused by his advocate is regarded as having been given with the accused’s authority.
(5) A notice under subsection (1) must either be given —
(a)
to the court when the accused is first charged in court in relation to the offence for which he is raising the defence of an alibi; or
(b)
in writing to the Public Prosecutor, or to the officer in charge of the prison where the accused is kept for him to forward to the Public Prosecutor, within 14 days from the date he is charged in court for the first time with the offence for which he is raising the defence of an alibi.
(6) A notice under subsection (2)(c) or (d) must be given in writing to the Public Prosecutor.
(7) A notice required by this section to be given to the Public Prosecutor may be delivered to him, or left at his office, or sent in a registered letter addressed to him at his office.
(8) If the Public Prosecutor or any officer of a law enforcement agency interviews any witness who is named in a notice given under this section, the accused or his advocate is entitled to be present at the interview.
(9) The court may not refuse leave under this section if no advocate appears to have been instructed to act for the accused at any time before his trial and if it is satisfied that the accused was unaware of the provisions of this section.
(10) In this section, “evidence in support of an alibi” means evidence tending to show that because the accused was present at a place or in an area at a certain time he was not, or was unlikely to have been, at the place where the offence was committed at the relevant time.