|
General rule on
witnesses to be examined orally
(1) Subject to
the Constitution, the Evidence Act, 1975 (N.R.CD.
323), these Rules and any other relevant
enactment, a fact required to L~ proved at the
trial of an action by the evidence of a witness
shall be proved by the examination of the
witness orally and in open court.
(2) Where a
party to the action or a witness is unable to
come to court as a result of illness but is
reasonably well and capable of giving evidence
the Court, in the interest of justice and for
reasons to be stated in the record book, may
move to the house, hospital or other place where
that party or witness is confined to take that
party's or witness's evidence.
Evidence by
affidavit
2.
(1) On an
application in a cause or matter, the Court,
unless these Rules prescribe otherwise or it
determines otherwise, may order that evidence be
given by affidavit' and may, on the application
of a party, order the attendance for
cross-examination of the person making the
affidavit.
(2) Where, a
person who has been ordered to attend Court for
cross-examination under subrule1) does not
attend, that person's affidavit shall not be
used as evidence without the permission of the
Court.
Limitation of
expert evidence
3.
The Court
may, at or before the trial of an action, order
that the number of medical or other expert
witnesses who may be called at the trial be
limited as specified in the order.
Official
documents in evidence
4.
Without
limiting the effect of any relevant enactment, a
document purporting to be sealed with the seal
of an office or a department shall be received
in evidence without further proof, and any
document purporting to be so sealed and to be a
copy of a document filed in or issued out of
that office or department shall be presumed to
be an office copy of that document without
further proof unless the contrary is shown.
Form and issue
of witness summons
5.
(1) A witness
summons is a document issued by the Court which
requires a witness to
(a)
attend Court to
give evidence; or
(b) produce a
document to the Court.
2) A witness
summons shall be as set out in Form 17 of
theFirst Schedule.
(3) A witness
summons is issued when it is sealed by an
officer of the registry of the Court which
requires the attendance of the witness or the
production of a document by the witness.
(4) Before a
witness summons is issued, a request as set out
in Form 18 of the First Schedule
for the issue of the summons shall be filed in
the registry out of which the summons is to
issue and the request shall contain
(a) the
name and address of the party issuing the
summons, if the party issuing is acting in
person, or
(b)
the name or
firm and business address of that party's
lawyer and if the lawyer is the agent of
another, the name or firm and business address
of the lawyer's principal.
Amendment of
witness summons
6.
Where there
is a mistake in a person's name or address in a
witness summons which has not been served, the
party by whom the summons is issued may have the
summons re-sealed in the correct form by filing
a second request under rule 5 (4) endorsed with
the words amended and re-sealed.
Service of
witness summons
7. A witness
summons shall be served personally, and the
service is not valid unless it is effected
within twelve weeks after the date of issue of
the summons.
Duration of witness summons
8.
A witness
summons shall continue to have effect after
service until the conclusion of the trial at
which the attendance of the witness is required.
|
