Reading of Deposition.

10. When a witness has been examined and his deposition taken down and signed, as prescribed by these Rules, and it shall be proved upon the trial by the oath of any credible witness that such witness is dead, or out of the jurisdiction, or so ill as not to be able to travel, and if it also be proved that the deposition was taken in the presence of the accused, and that he, his counsel or solicitor, had a full opportunity of cross-examining the witness, then if the deposition purport to be signed by the Court before which it was taken, it shall be lawful to read such deposition as evidence at the trial, without further proof, unless it shall be proved that the deposition was not in fact signed by the Court purporting to have signed the same.

Dying Declaration.

11. In any case in which a person is dying, in consequence of injuries received from another, he may make a declaration orally or in writing to any officer of the Court, surgeon, minister of religion, or other competent person, who may subsequently prove the declaration, which may then, in case of the death of the declarant, be used as evidence in any trial arising out of the injuries inflicted on him.

In order to render this declaration admissible, three material points must be insisted on, viz. :—

(1) The inquiry must relate to the cause of the death of the declarant ;

(2) The circumstances leading to the death must be the subject of the declaration; and

(3) At the time of making the declaration, the declarant must be perfectly aware of his danger, and entertain no hope of recovery.

Such a declaration is not to be on oath.

Evidence in civil case of person dead or insane.

12. In a civil case, where a person whose evidence would have been admissible is dead or insane, or for any reason appearing sufficient to the Court is not present to give evidence, the Court may, if it thinks fit, receive proof of any evidence given by him in any former judicial proceeding: provided that the subject matter of the former proceeding was substantially the same as that of the pending proceeding, and that the parties to the pending proceeding were parties to the former proceeding or bound by it, and had an opportunity in it of cross-examining the person of whose evidence proof is so to be given.

Statements of accused.

13. In a criminal case, any statement made by the accused, at a preliminary examination, in answer to the questions put to him by the Court, as prescribed by these Rules, may be given in evidence against him on the trial; but nothing in these Rules

shall prevent the prosecutor from giving in evidence at the trial any admission or confession, or other statement of the accused made at any time, which would, by law, be admissible as evidence against him.

Evidence in civil cases before trial.

14.-(1) In a civil case, where the circumstances of the case appear to the Court so to require, for reasons recorded in the minutes, the Court may, when an action is pending, take the evidence of any witness at any time as preparatory to the hearing, and the evidence so taken may be used at the hearing, subject to just exceptions.

(2) Any Court or Consular officer shall, on the request in writing of any Court before which an action is pending, so take evidence for purposes of the action.

(3) The evidence shall be taken in like manner, as nearly as may be, as evidence at the hearing of an action is to be taken, and then the note of the evidence shall be read over to the witness and tendered to him for signature, and if he refuses to sign it the Court or officer shall add a note of his refusal, and the evidence may be used as if he had signed it.

(4) Evidence may be taken in like manner on the application of any person, although no action is pending, where it is proved that the person applying has good reason to apprehend that a proceeding will be taken against him in the Court, and that some person within the particular jurisdiction at the time of application can give material evidence respecting the object of the apprehended proceeding, but that he is about to leave the particular jurisdiction, or that from some other cause the person applying will lose the benefit of his evidence if it is not at once taken.

Mode of drawing affidavits.

15.-(1) All affidavits are to be expressed in the first person, and drawn up in paragraphs and numbered, and shall be entitled in the action or matter in which they are sworn.

(2) All affidavits, other than those for which forms are given in the Appendix, are to state the deponent's age, occupation, quality and place of residence, and also what facts or circumstances deposed to are within the deponent's own knowledge, his means of knowledge, and what facts or circumstances deposed to are known to or believed by him, by reason of information derived from other sources than his own knowledge, and what such

sources are.

(3) The costs of affidavits not in conformity with the last two preceding Rules shall be disallowed on taxation, unless the Court shall otherwise direct.

Requirements of affidavits.

16.-(1) The affidavit when sworn shall be signed by the witness (or, if he cannot write, marked by him with his mark) In the presence of a Consular officer.

(2) The jurat shall be written without interlineation, alteration, or erasure, immediately at the foot of the affidavit, and towards the left side of the paper, and shall be signed by a Consular officer, and be sealed by him with his Consular seal.

(3) It shall state the date of the swearing, and the place where it is sworn.

(4) It shall state that the affidavit was sworn before a Consular officer.

(5) Where the witness is blind or illiterate, it shall state that fact, and that the affidavit was read over to him in the presence of a Consular officer, and that the witness appeared to understand it.

(6) Where the witness makes a mark instead of signing, the jurat shall state that fact, and that the mark was made in the presence of a Consular officer.

(7) Where two or more persons join in making an affidavit, their several names shall be written in the jurat, and it shall appear by the jurat that each of them has been sworn to the truth of the several matters stated by him in the affidavit.

(8) An affidavit shall not be admitted if it is proved that it has been sworn before a person on whose behalf it is offered, or before his attorney, or before a partner or clerk of his attorney.

(9) An affidavit may be used, notwithstanding any defect in form, if it is proved that it has been sworn before a person duly authorized, and that the form thereof and that of the attestation thereto are in accordance with the law and custom of the place where it has been sworn.

(10) A defective or erroneous affidavit may be amended and re-sworn by leave of the Court in which it is to be used.

(11) The Court may, if it thinks fit, for reasons recorded in the minutes, admit an affidavit in evidence, although it is shown that the party against whom the affidavit is offered in evidence had no opportunity of cross-examining the person making the affidavit.

(12) No affidavit or other document in which there is any knife erasure, or which is blotted so as to obliterate any words and which is illegibly written or so altered as to cause it to be illegible, nor any affidavit in which there is any interlineation, unless the person before whom the same is sworn shall have duly initialled such interlineation, or in case of an erasure shall have re-written and initialled in the margin the words or figures appearing to be written on the erasure, nor any affidavit or other document which is so imperfect upon the face or by reason of having blanks thereon that it cannot easily be read or understood, shall be filed or used in any action or proceeding, unless the Court shall otherwise order.

Alteration of affidavit.

17.-(1) The Consular officer shall not allow an affidavit, when sworn, to be altered in any manner without being re-sworn.

(2) If the jurat has been added and signed, he shall add a new jurat on the affidavit being re-sworn; and in the new jurat he shall mention the alteration.

(3) He may refuse to allow the affidavit to be re-sworn, and may require a fresh affidavit.

Affidavits made out of the jurisdiction and by foreigners.

18. An affidavit sworn before a Consular officer of His Majesty authorized to take affidavits in any country, or before a Judge or other person in the United Kingdom, or in a British possession, authorized to take affidavits, or before a Mayor or other Magistrate in a foreign country authorized to administer an oath, or in the case of a foreigner in Siam before his own proper Consular authority, may be used in the Court, subject to the rules of evidence.

Rules for using affidavits.

19.-(1) Before any affidavit is used it shall be filed in the office of the Registrar, but the Court may make an order in an urgent case, upon the undertaking of the applicant to file any affidavit sworn before the making of the order, provided that the order be not issued until after the affidavit has been filed.

(2) The original affidavit or an office copy shall alone be recognized for any purpose in the Court.

20. In a civil case

Documentary evidence.

(1) Any party may call on any other party by notice filed and served to admit any document, subject to just exceptions. (2) In case of refusal or neglect to admit, the cost of proof of the document shall be paid by the party neglecting or refusing, unless the Court is of opinion that the refusal to admit was reasonable.

(3) No costs of proof of any document shall be allowed unless notice to admit has been given, except in cases where the omission to give notice has, in the opinion of the Court, produced a saving of expense.

(4) Every document offered as evidence and not objected to shall be put in and read, or taken as read by consent.

(5) Every document put in evidence shall be marked by the Court at the time, and shall be retained by the Court during the hearing and returned to the party who put it in, or from whose custody it came, immediately after the judgment, unless it is impounded by order of the Court.

Objections to evidence.

21. All objections to the reception of evidence shall be made when the evidence is offered, and shall be argued and decided at the time, and the Court shall, unless it shall consider it to be frivolous, take a note of every objection and the decision thereon.

Witnesses may be kept out of Court.

22. In every case, the Court may order witnesses to be kept out of Court and out of hearing. This, however, does not apply to the parties in any case, and an exception is sometimes made by consent in the case of expert and professional witnesses.

Validity in evidence of seals and signatures.

23. Every signature or seal affixed to any instrument purporting to be the signature of the Judge of any Court, or of any Consular officer, or to be the seal of any of His Majesty's Courts in Siam, shall, without any proof thereof, be presumed to be genuine, and shall be taken as genuine until the contrary is proved.

Notes of evidence.

24. (1) Notes of evidence should generally be taken by the Court in a narrative form, but any question and answer may be set down at length if it appear necessary to do so.

(2) No person is entitled as of right, at any time or for any purpose, to inspect or to take a copy of the notes of evidence of the Court. But the Court may give permission for this to be done if it think fit.

Cases reported or transferred to Court for Siam.

Documents to be transmitted.

25. Where a case is reported or transferred to the Court for Siam the following documents, or certified copies thereof, are to be forwarded under cover to the Registrar of the Court for Siam:The Summons.

Minutes of Evidence (if any) taken by the District Court.

Notes of any interlocutory proceedings, accompanied by a short statement under the hand of the Court of the reasons (if any) for which it is deemed necessary to report the case, and, if possible, a suggestion of the time when it may be most convenient for parties and witnesses to attend the Court for Siam.

Juries and Assessors.
Jury lists.

26.-(1) The jury list for each district shall be revised and settled in the month of January in each year, and when settled shall be affixed in some conspicuous place in the Court, and be there exhibited during not less than two months.

(2) The list, as settled, shall be brought into use in every year on the 1st of February and shall be used as the jury list of the district for the twelve months then next ensuing.

(3) The rate of gross income for a juror's qualification under Article 24 of the Principal Order shall be £50 per annum.