353. Right to examine witnesses.

Before a defendant can be convicted, all the evidence against him must normally be produced in his presence at a public hearing with a view to adversarial argument: any exceptions to this principle must not infringe the rights of the defence, which, as a rule, require1 that the defendant should be given an adequate and proper opportunity to challenge and question a witness against him, either when that witness makes his statement or at a later stage of proceedings2. The term 'witness' is given an autonomous meaning which extends to any person who makes a statement (whether oral or