South Australian Current Acts

EVIDENCE ACT 1929 - SECT 34CB

34CB—Direction relating to delay where defendant forensically disadvantaged

        (1)         A rule of law or practice obliging a judge in a trial of a charge of an offence to give a warning of a kind known as a Longman warning is abolished.

Note—

See Longman v The Queen (1989) 168 CLR 79

        (2)         If, in a trial of a charge of an offence, the court is of the opinion that the period of time that has elapsed between the alleged offending and the trial has resulted in a significant forensic disadvantage to the defendant, the judge must—

            (a)         explain to the jury the nature of the forensic disadvantage; and

            (b)         direct that the jury must take the forensic disadvantage into account when scrutinising the evidence.

        (3)         An explanation or direction under subsection (2) may not take the form of a warning and—

            (a)         must be specific to the circumstances of the particular case; and

            (b)         must not include the phrase "dangerous or unsafe to convict" or similar words or phrases.