Magistrates' Courts Act, 1944 (Act No. 32 of 1944)Part II : Civil MattersChapter VII : Witnesses and Evidence51bis. Witness fees |
| (1) | The Minister may in consultation with the Minister of Finance from time to time by notice in the Gazette prescribe a tariff of allowances which shall be paid to a witness in civil proceedings or to any person necessarily required to accompany any such witness on account of his youth or infirmity due to old age or any other infirmity. |
| (2) | Such notice may differentiate between persons according to the distances which they have to travel to attend the court to which they are summoned or subpoenaed or according to their professions, callings or occupations or between different classes of persons, and may empower such officers in the service of the State as may be specified therein, in cases where payment of allowances in accordance with the tariffs so prescribed may cause undue hardship, to order payment of allowances in accordance with a higher tariff than the tariff so prescribed. |
| (3) | Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law contained, the court may order that no allowances or only a portion of the allowances prescribed shall be paid to any witness. |