This Supplementary Order Paper amends the Evidence Amendment Bill. The first amendment corrects a typographical error. The second amendment makes a change to the amendment to section 90 in clause 26 of the Bill. This change means that a previous consistent statement of a witness (that meets certain criteria) will be admissible in evidence rather than the witness only being able to refer to it to refresh his or her memory. This reflects the original policy intent to amend section 90 in line with the Law Commission’s recommendation to move the substance of current section 35(3) to section 90.

The third amendment relates to the requirement in section 202 for a periodic review of the operation of the Act. The time within which the Law Commission must report to the Minister, from the date on which a reference to undertake a review of the Act occurs, is increased from 1 year to 2 years.