General Duties of the Judge Advocate

(1) The judge advocate shall be responsible for the proper discharge of his functions to the Attorney General. (2) The prosecutor and the accused respectively are at all times after the judge advocate is named to the trial entitled to his opinion on any question of law or procedure relative to the charge or trial whether he is in or out of court, subject when he is in court to the permission of the court. (3) On the assembly of the court the judge advocate shall advise the court of any defect in the constitution of the court or in the charge sheet, and during the trial he shall advise the court upon all questions of law or procedure which may arise. The court shall accept his advice on all such matters unless it has weighty reasons for not doing so, and if the court does not accept it, its reasons for not doing so shall be recorded in the (4) After the closing addresses the judge advocate shall sum up the evidence and advise the court upon the law relating to the case before the court closes to deliberate on its findings. If in 72 the course of deliberating on its finding the court requires further advice from the judge advocate, it shall suspend its deliberation and ask and be given such advice in open court. (5) If when the court announces a finding of guilty or a special finding under either section 84 of the Act or rule 58(3) the judge advocate is of the opinion that such finding or special finding is contrary to the law relating to the case, he shall once more, but not more than once more, advise the court what findings are, in his opinion, open to it. The court shall then reconsider its finding in closed court. The record of the proceedings relating to such reconsideration shall be in the form set out in the Third Schedule to these Rules. (6) The judge advocate shall be present whenever the court is sitting whether in open or closed court, except when the court is deliberating on the finding on the charge or on a revision thereof. (7) The judge advocate has equally with the president the duty of ensuring that the accused does not suffer any disadvantage in consequence of his position as such or of his ignorance or of his incapacity to examine or cross-examine witnesses, or to make his own evidence clear and intelligible, or otherwise. (8) The judge advocate shall be responsible for seeing that a proper record of the proceedings is made in accordance with rule 83 and responsible for the safe custody of the record of the proceedings under rule 85.