224Opening address by prosecutor

224 Opening address by prosecutor (1) The prosecutor must give an opening address to the jury on the prosecution case against the accused before any evidence is given in the trial. (2) If documents have been served and filed by the prosecution under Part 5.5, the prosecutor must restrict himself or herself to the matters set out in those documents when opening the prosecution case, unless the trial judge considers that there are exceptional circumstances. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a change of legal practitioner does not constitute exceptional circumstances. (4) Despite subsection (2), the prosecutor is not restricted to a verbatim presentation of the summary of the prosecution opening as served and filed under Part 5.5. (5) The trial judge may limit the length of the prosecution opening.