225Response of accused to prosecution opening

225 Response of accused to prosecution opening (1) In all trials before a jury, immediately after the prosecutor's opening, the accused— (a) if represented by a legal practitioner, must present; (b) if not represented by a legal practitioner, may present— to the jury the response of the accused to the prosecution opening prepared in accordance with Part 5.5. (2) If documents have been served and filed by the defence under Part 5.5, the accused is restricted to the matters set out in those documents when presenting the response of the accused to the prosecution opening, 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 accused is not restricted to a verbatim presentation of the response of the accused to the summary of the prosecution opening as served and filed under Part 5.5. (5) The trial judge may limit the length of the response of the accused. Division 5—Case for the accused S. 226 amended by No. 6/2017 s. 4(1) (ILA s. 39B(1)).