Section 120 - Confessions

(1) In a criminal action, evidence of a hearsay statement made by an accused admitting a matter which

(a) constitutes, or

(b) forms an essential part of, or

(c) taken together with other information already disclosed by the accused is a basis for an inference of,

the commission of a crime for which the accused is being tried in the action is not admissible against the accused unless the statement was made voluntarily.

(2) Evidence of a hearsay statement is not admissible under subsection (1) if the statement was made by the declarant while arrested, restricted or detained by the State unless the statement was made in the presence of an independent witness, who

(a) can understand the language spoken by the accused,

(b) can read and understand the language in which the statement is made,

and where the statement is in writing the independent witness shall certify in writing that the statement was made voluntarily in the presence of the independent witness and that the contents were fully understood by the accused.

(3) Where the accused is blind or illiterate, the independent witness

(a) shall carefully read over and explain to the accused the contents of the statement before it is signed or marked by the accused, and

(b) shall certify in writing on the statement that the independent witness had so read over and explained its contents to the accused and that the accused appeared perfectly to understand it before it was signed or marked.

(4) For the purposes of this section, a statement that was not made voluntarily includes, but is not limited to a statement made by the accused if

(a) the accused when making the statement was not capable because of a physical or mental condition of understanding what the accused said or did; or

(b) the accused was induced to make the statement by being subjected to cruel or inhuman conditions, or by the infliction of physical suffering upon the accused by a public officer or by a person who has a direct interest in the outcome of the action, or by a person acting at the request or direction of a public officer or that interested person; or

(c) the accused was induced to make the statement by a threat or promise which was likely to cause the accused to make the statement falsely, and the person making the threat or promise was a public officer, or a person who has a direct interest in the outcome of the action, or a person acting at the request or direction of a public officer or the interested person.

(6) In a criminal action tried by a jury a party may not, in the presence of the jury, offer to prove a hearsay statement under this section.

(7) Where a party offers to prove a hearsay statement under this section the Court shall in the absence of the jury, determine the admissibility of the statement as provided in section 3.

(8) A determination by the Court under subsection (7), that a statement is admissible shall not preclude the jury from determining that the statement is not to be believed.