Companies Act 2014

882

Provision of information to juries

882. (1) In a trial on indictment of an offence under this Act, the trial judge may order that copies of all or any of the following documents be given to the jury in any form that the judge considers appropriate:

(a) any document admitted in evidence at the trial;

(b) the transcript of the opening speeches of counsel;

(c) any charts, diagrams, graphics, schedules or summaries of evidence produced at trial;

(d) the transcript of the whole or part of the evidence given at the trial;

(e) the transcript of the trial judge’s charge to the jury;

(f) any other document that in the opinion of the trial judge would assist the jury in its deliberations including, where appropriate, an affidavit by an accountant summarising, in a form that is likely to be comprehended by the jury, any transactions by the accused or other persons relevant to the offence.

(2) If the prosecutor proposes to apply to the trial judge for an order that a document referred to in subsection (1)(f) shall be given to the jury, the prosecutor shall give a copy of the document to the accused in advance of the trial and, on the hearing of the application, the trial judge shall take into account any representations made by or on behalf of the accused in relation to it.

(3) Where the trial judge has made an order that an affidavit referred to in subsection (1) (f) shall be given to the jury, the judge may in an appropriate case, with a view to assisting the jury in its deliberations, require the accountant who prepared the affidavit to explain to the jury any relevant accounting procedures or principles.