WESTERN AUSTRALIA
ACTS AMENDMENT (EVIDENCE)
ACT 1991
No. 48 of 1991
AN ACT to amend
the Evidence Act 1906;
The Criminal Code; and
the Justices Act 1902,
in relation to the competence and compellability of
spouses to give evidence in legal proceedings and for
related purposes.
[Assented to 17 December 1991]
The Parliament of Western Australia enacts as follows:
PART 1—PRELIMINARY
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Acts Amendment (Evidence) Act
1991.
Commencement
2. This Act shall come into operation on such date as is fixed by
proclamation.
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Amendments not to apply
to certain proceedings
3. (1) In subsection (2) "prescribed proceedings" means
|
(2) Prescribed proceedings shall be heard, dealt with and
determined as if this Act had not been enacted.
PART 2—EVIDENCE ACT 1906
Principal Act
4. In this Part the Evidence Act 1906* is referred to as the
principal Act.
(*Reprinted as at 14 August 1986 and amended by Acts Nos. 81 of
1986, 66 of 1987, 70 of 1988, 34 of 1989 and 47 of 19901
Section 7 amended
5. Section 7 of the principal Act is amended by deleting
"husbands and wives" and substituting the following
wives, former wives, husbands and former husbands ".
| Acts Amendment (Evidence) Act 1991 | [No. 48 |
Section 8 amended
6. Section 8 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (1)-
| (a) | by deleting ", and the wife or husband, as the case may be, of the person so charged,"; |
| (b) | by repealing paragraph (b) of the proviso; and |
| (c) | in paragraph (c) of the proviso by deleting ", or of the wife or husband, as the case may be, of the person so charged". |
Section 9 repealed and a section substituted
7. Section 9 of the principal Act is repealed and the following
section is substituted
Evidence of wife or husband
of defendant in criminal cases
9. (1) In any criminal proceeding (and at every stage of
the proceeding), the wife or husband of a defendant shall,
subject to this Act, be
| (a) | competent to give evidence on behalf of the |
prosecution, the defendant or any person being tried
jointly with the defendant;
| (b) | compellable to give evidence on behalf of the defendant or any person being tried jointly with the defendant; and |
| (c) | compellable to give evidence on behalf of the prosecution against the defendant or any person being tried jointly with the defendant if- |
(i) the defendant is charged with an offence under a provision mentioned in the Second Schedule;
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(ii) the defendant is charged with attempting or conspiring to commit, or with inciting the commission of, an offence under a provision mentioned in the Second Schedule;
(iii)…