Evidence Ordinance

(1)
Subject to this section and
section 22B
, a statement contained in a document shall be admitted in any criminal proceedings as prima facie evidence of any fact stated therein
if—
(a)
direct oral evidence of that fact would be admissible in those proceedings; and
(b)
the document is or forms part of a record compiled by a person acting under a duty from information supplied by a person (whether acting under a duty or not) who had, or may reasonably be supposed to have had, personal knowledge of the matters dealt with in that information; and
(c)
the person who supplied the
information—
(i)
is dead or by reason of his bodily or mental condition unfit to attend as a witness;
(ii)
is outside Hong Kong and it is not reasonably practicable to secure his attendance;
(iii)
cannot be identified and all reasonable steps have been taken to identify him;
(iv)
his identity being known, cannot be found and all reasonable steps have been taken to find him;
(v)
cannot reasonably be expected (having regard to the time which has elapsed since he supplied or acquired the information and to all the circumstances) to have any recollection of the matters dealt with in that information; or
(vi)
having regard to all the circumstances of the case, cannot be called as a witness without his being so called being likely to cause undue delay or expense.
(2)
A statement made in
                connexion
                with any criminal proceedings or with any investigation relating or leading to any
                criminal proceedings shall not be admissible under this section.
(3)
Subsection (1) applies whether the information was supplied directly or indirectly but, if it was supplied indirectly, only if each person through whom it was supplied was acting under a duty; and that subsection applies also where the person who compiled the record also supplied the information.
(4)
Where in any criminal proceedings a statement based on information supplied by
                any person is given in evidence by virtue of this
section—
(a)
any evidence which, if that person had been called as a witness, would have
                    been admissible as relevant to his credibility as a witness shall be admissible
                    for that purpose in those proceedings; and
(b)
evidence
                    tending to prove that that person has, whether before or after supplying the
                    information, made a statement (whether oral or otherwise) which is inconsistent
                    with that information shall be admissible for the purpose of showing that he has
                    contradicted
                    himself:
Provided that nothing in this
                subsection shall enable evidence to be given of any matter of which, if the person
                in question had been called as a witness and had denied that matter in
                cross-examination, evidence could not have been adduced by the cross-examining
                party.
(5)
A statement which is admissible by virtue of this section shall not be capable of corroborating evidence given by the person who supplied the information on which the statement is based.
(6)
In deciding for the purposes of subsection
(1
)(
c
)(
i)
whether a person is unfit to attend as a witness the court may act on a certificate purporting to be signed by a medical practitioner registered or deemed to be registered under the Medical Registration Ordinance (
Cap. 161
).
(7)
Any reference in this section to a person acting under a duty includes a reference to a person acting in the course of any occupation in which he is engaged or employed or for the purposes of any paid or unpaid office held by him.
(8)
This section does not apply to any document to which
section 22A
applies.