(1)  If a witness fails to appear when called in any civil proceedings or criminal proceedings and it is proved that he or she has been duly bound by recognisance, served with a summons or subpoena or issued with a final notice under the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996 , the court may –

(a) order the witness to show cause at those or later proceedings why execution of the recognisance or an attachment for disobedience to the summons, subpoena or final notice should not be issued against the witness; or

(b) if it is proved that the non-appearance is without just cause or reasonable excuse and that the witness will probably be able to give relevant evidence in the proceeding, issue a warrant to bring the witness before the court to give the evidence.

(2)  Matters may be proved under this section orally or by affidavit.

(3)  On return of an order to show cause under this section, the court may deal with the case in the same way as the Supreme Court would deal with an order to similar effect made by that Court.

Note: The Evidence Act 1995 of the Commonwealth does not include an equivalent provision to this section. There are provisions to the same effect in federal court rules and ACT legislation applying to proceedings before federal courts and ACT courts.