| (1) | Upon production by any person, any document purporting to be a statement under oath or affirmation by any person in connection with any death or alleged death in respect of which an inquest is held, or any certified copy thereof, shall at the discretion of the judicial officer holding the inquest be admissible in proof of the facts stated therein: Provided that the said judicial officer may admit any statement which is not so admissible, or any certified copy thereof, if that judicial officer, having regard to— |
| (a) | the form and contents of the document in which any such statement is contained; |
| (b) | the availability of the person who made any such statement; |
| (c) | the probative value of any such statement; |
| (d) | any prejudice to any person which the admission of any such statement might entail; and |
| (e) | any other circumstance which should in the opinion of that judicial officer be taken into account, |
is of the opinion that any such statement, or any certified copy thereof, should be admitted in the interests of justice.
| (2) | The judicial officer may in his discretion cause the person who made such statement to be subpoenaed to give oral evidence at the inquest or may cause written interrogatories to be submitted to him for reply, and such interrogatories and any reply thereto purporting to be a reply from such person shall likewise be admissible in evidence at the inquest. |
| (3) | Any person who in any statement in writing under oath or affirmation contemplated in this section makes a false statement knowing it to be false or without reasonable grounds (the onus of proof of which shall be on him) for believing it to be true, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to the penalties which may in law be imposed for perjury. |
[Section 13 substituted by section 6 of Act No. 8 of 1991]
