§ The provisions of Section seventeen of the Indictable Offences Act, 1848, and Section seventeen of the Indictable Offences (Ireland) Act, 1849, and Section fourteen of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, which enable the depositions of witnesses in certain circumstances to be read as evidence at the trial shall, during the continuance of the present War, apply to depositions of witnesses who are proved to be unable to attend, having regard to the necessities of the public service, by reason of being actively engaged in the naval or military service of His Majesty, in like manner as they apply to the depositions of witnesses who are proved to be dead: Provided that no deposition shall be read in evidence under the powers of this Section save with the consent of the Court before which the trial takes place.
§ Lords Amendment: To leave out Clause 1, and to insert instead thereof the following Clause:—