Abstract:
Various portions of the Evidence Act (Cap 97, 1997 Rev Ed) and Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 2012 Rev Ed) were amended in 2018 vide the Criminal Justice Reform Bill (Bill 14 of 2018) and Evidence (Amendment) Bill (Bill 15 of 2018); this was a continuation of a series of gradual but important changes to the criminal justice system that had begun in 2010 when the old Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 1985 Rev Ed) was replaced. This legislation comment outlines and briefly analyses some of the most substantive changes brought about by the 2018 amendments: the video-recording of interviews in criminal proceedings; the introduction of a psychiatrist panel to regulate the reception of evidence from expert psychiatric witnesses in criminal proceedings; and the use of deferred prosecution agreements for certain corporate offenders.