CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND EVIDENCE ACT Provided that an allowance shall be paid to a witness for the accused, or a person accompanying such a witness, only in such circumstances as may be prescribed. [Subsection as amended by s. 28 of Act No. 9 of 2006] (2) Any allowance paid in terms of subsection (1) shall be paid out of moneys appropriated for the purpose by Act of Parliament. B. Evidence on commission 240 Taking evidence on commission (1) When in the course of a trial or other criminal proceedings it appears to a judge or magistrate that the examination of a witness is necessary for the ends of justice, and that the attendance of such witness cannot be procured without an amount of delay, expense or inconvenience which in the circumstances of the case would be unreasonable, such judge or magistrate may dispense with the attendance of such witness and may issue a commission to any magistrate or, where the witness is outside Zimbabwe, to any fit and proper person outside Zimbabwe, authorizing such magistrate or person to take the evidence of such witness: Provided that— (i) the specific fact or facts with regard to which the evidence of the witness is required shall be set out, and the judge or magistrate may confine the examination of the witness to those facts; (ii) when the commission is issued at the request of the prosecutor, the judge or magistrate shall, unless the accused states that he does not wish to be represented, direct as a condition of the issue of the commission that the expense necessary to the representation of the accused at the examination of the witness shall be paid by the prosecution in such amount or at such rate as may seem reasonable to the judge or magistrate granting the commission. [Subsection as amended by s. 28 of Act No. 9 of 2006] (2) The witness, before giving his evidence, shall make an oath or affirmation before the commissioner by whom he is to be examined that in the whole of his deposition he will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and the evidence of such witness shall be taken down in writing by the commissioner and read over to him. (3) Where the person appointed as commissioner and the witness to be examined are outside Zimbabwe, they shall be entitled to be paid out of moneys appropriated for the purpose by Act of Parliament such fee as may be approved by the Minister responsible for finance. 241 Parties may examine witness (1) Any party to any criminal proceedings in which a commission is issued may transmit any interrogatories in writing which the judge or magistrate directing the commission may think relevant to the issue, and the magistrate or other person to whom the commission is directed shall examine the witness upon such interrogatories. (2) Any such party may appear before such magistrate or other person by his legal representative or, if not in custody, in person, and may examine, cross-examine and re-examine, as the case may be, the witness. 242 Return of commission (1) After a commission under section two hundred and forty has been duly executed, it shall be returned, together with the deposition of the witness examined thereunder, to the court which issued it. (2) The commission, the return thereto and the deposition shall be open at all reasonable times to the inspection of the parties, and may, subject to all just exceptions, be read in evidence in the case by either party, and shall form part of the record. (3) Any deposition taken in terms of the commission may also be received in evidence at any subsequent stage of the case before another court. 91