Contingency Fees Act, 1997
R 385.00
Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977)Chapter 24 : Evidence212B. Proof of undisputed facts |
| (1) | If an accused has appointed a legal adviser and, at any stage during the proceedings, it appears to a public prosecutor that a particular fact or facts which must be proved in a charge against an accused is or are not in issue or will not be placed in issue in criminal proceedings against the accused, he or she may, notwithstanding section 220, forward or hand a notice to the accused or his or her legal adviser setting out that fact or those facts and stating that such fact or facts shall be deemed to have been proved at the proceedings unless notice is given that any such fact will be placed in issue. |
| (2) | The first-mentioned notice contemplated in subsection (1) shall be sent by certified mail or handed to the accused or his or her legal adviser personally at least 14 days before the commencement of the criminal proceedings or the date set for the continuation of the proceedings or within such shorter period as may be condoned by the court or agreed upon by the accused or his or her legal adviser and the prosecutor. |
| (3) | If any fact mentioned in such notice is intended to be placed in issue at the proceedings, the accused or his or her legal representative shall at least five days before the commencement or the date set for the continuation of the proceedings or within such shorter period as may be condoned by the court or agreed upon with the prosecutor deliver a notice in writing to that effect to the registrar or the clerk of the court, as the case may be, or orally notify the registrar or the clerk of the court to that effect in which case the registrar or the clerk of the court shall record such notice. |
| (4) | If, after receipt of the first-mentioned notice contemplated in subsection (1), any fact mentioned in that notice is not placed in issue as contemplated in subsection (3), the court may deem such fact or facts, subject to the provisions of subsections (5) and (6), to have been sufficiently proved at the proceedings concerned. |
| (5) | If a notice was forwarded or handed over by a prosecutor as contemplated in subsection (1), the prosecutor shall notify the court at the commencement of the proceedings of such fact and of the reaction thereto, if any, and the court shall thereupon institute an investigation into such of the facts which are not disputed and enquire from the accused whether he or she confirms the information given by the prosecutor and whether he or she understands his or her rights and the implications of the procedure and where the legal adviser of the accused replies to any question by the court under this section, the accused shall be required by the court to declare whether he or she confirms such reply or not. |
| (6) | The court may on its own initiative or at the request of the accused order oral evidence to be adduced regarding any fact contemplated in subsection (4). |
[Section 212B inserted by section 10 of Act No. 86 of 1996]
