reason only that the answering of such question may establish or tend to establish that he owes a debt or is otherwise subject to a civil suit. 294 Privilege of professional advisers No legal practitioner duly qualified to practise in any court, whether within Zimbabwe or elsewhere, shall be competent to give evidence against any person by whom he has been professionally employed or consulted, without the consent of that person, as to any fact, matter or thing as to which such legal practitioner, by reason of such employment or consultation and without such consent, would not be competent to give evidence in any similar proceedings depending in the Supreme Court of Judicature in England: Provided that no such legal practitioner shall in any proceedings, by reason of any such employment or consultation, be incompetent or not legally compellable to give evidence as to any fact, matter or thing relative to or connected with the commission of any offence for which the person by whom such legal practitioner has been so employed or consulted is in such proceedings prosecuted, when such fact, matter or thing came to the knowledge of such legal practitioner before he was professionally employed for or consulted with reference to the defence of such person against such prosecution. 295 Privilege from disclosure of facts on grounds of public policy No witness shall, except as in this Act is provided, be compellable or permitted to give evidence in any criminal proceedings as to any fact, matter or thing, or as to any communication made to or by such witness, as to which, if the case were depending in the Sup reme Court of Judicature in England, such witness would not be compellable or permitted to give evidence by reason that such fact, matter or thing or communication, on grounds of public policy and from regard to public interest, ought not to be disclosed and is privileged from disclosure: Provided that it shall be competent for any person to produce or to give evidence of any communication alleging the commission of an offence at any trial upon a charge that the making of such communication constituted perjury or the statutory offence of making a false statement in an affidavit or solemn or attested declaration. [Section amended by section 28 of Act 9 of 2006.] 296 Privilege arising out of State security (1) Notwithstanding this Act or any other law, no person shall be compellable or permitted to give evidence or to furnish any information in any criminal proceedings as to any fact, matter or thing or as to any communication made to or by such person and no book or document shall be produced in any such proceedings if an affidavit, purporting to have been signed by the Minister responsible in respect of such fact, matter, thing, communication, book or document, is produced to the court or magistrate to the effect that the Minister has pe rsonally considered the said fact, matter, thing, communication, book or document and that, in his opinion, it affects the security of the State and disclosure thereof would, in his opinion, prejudicially affect the sec urity of the State. (2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall derogate from any law relating to the matters referred to therein and that subsection shall be additional to, and not in substitution of, any such law. 297 Witness excused from answering questions answers to which would expose him to penalties or degrade his character No witness in any criminal proceedings shall, except as provided by this Act or any other enactment, be compelled to answer any question which, if he were under examination in any similar case depending in the Supreme Court of Judicature in England, he would not be compelled to answer by reason that his answer might have a tendency to expose him to any pains, penalty, punishment or forfeiture or to a criminal charge or to degrade his character: Provided that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, an accused person called as a witness on his own application in accordance with section two hundred and forty-eight may be asked any question in cross-examination, notwithstanding that it would tend to incriminate him as to the offence charged against him. K. Special rules of evidence in particular cases 298 Evidence on charge of treason On the trial of a person charged with treason, evidence shall not be admitted of any overt act not alleged in the indictment, unless relevant to prove some other overt act alleged therein. 299 Evidence on charge of perjury or subornation On the trial of a person charged with an offence of which the giving of false testimony by any person at the trial of a person charged with an offence is an element, a certificate setting out the substance and effect only, without the formal parts, of the indictment, summons or charge, and the proceedings at the trial, and purporting to be signed by the officer having the custody of the records of the court where the indictment, summons or charge was tried, or by his deputy, shall be sufficient evidence of the trial without proof of the signature or official cha racter of the person who appears to have signed the certificate.