274.
| (1) As the evidence of each witness taken at an inquiry is completed or at some time before commitment it shall be read over to the witness by the Magistrate in the presence of the accused person if in attendance or of his pleader if he appears by pleader, and shall if necessary be corrected. |
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| (2) If the witness denies the correctness of any part of the evidence when read over to him the Magistrate may instead of correcting the evidence make a memorandum thereon of the objection made to it by the witness and shall add such remarks as he thinks necessary. |
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| (3) If the witness does not understand the language in which the evidence has been recorded such evidence shall be interpreted to him in the language in which it was given. |
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| (4) When the evidence has been read over to the witness and every correction, if any asked for by him, has been made or noted the witness shall subscribe the deposition with his signature, and in the event of his refusing to do so the Magistrate shall record such refusal. Certifications of depositions by Magistrates. |
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| (5) When a deposition has been read over to a witness and acknowledged to be correct, the Magistrate shall append to the evidence of the witness a certificate, signed with his signature or initials to the following effect, that is to say-
| | (a) in the case of a witness who gave evidence in the language in which the record is kept: " Read over to the witness in open court in the presence of the accused and admitted by the witness to be correct"; and | | |
| | (b) in the case of other witnesses: " Read over and interpreted to the witness in open court in the presence of the accused and admitted by the witness to be correct". | | |
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| (6) In the case of depositions recorded in the absence of the accused the words " in the presence of the accused " shall be deleted from the certificate referred to in subsection (5). |
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| (7) The absence of such a certificate in a deposition shall not be a bar to the deposition being received in evidence in any case in which it is desired to tender the deposition in evidence if it is proved by other evidence that the other requirements of the section were in fact complied with. |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts