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BSA 2023 § 144 — Cross-examination of person called to produce a document

§ SECTION 144 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER X — OF EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES

Cross-examination of person called to produce a document

Producing is not testifying. A person summoned to produce a document does not become a witness just by producing it, and cannot be cross-examined unless and until he is actually called as a witness.

How to read Section 144

Bringing a document to court, by itself, does not make you a witness — and you cannot be cross-examined until you are actually called to give evidence.

The producer

A person summoned to produce a document — he merely hands it over.

Not a witness

He does not become a witness by the mere fact that he produces it.

No cross unless called

He cannot be cross-examined — unless and until he is called as a witness.

The bare Act

The section in its own words — a single, clean rule.

Section 144 · verbatim

A person summoned to produce a document does not become a witness by the mere fact that he produces it, and cannot be cross-examined unless and until he is called as a witness.

In short: the law draws a clean line between producing a document and testifying. A person may be summoned merely to produce a document — to bring it to court and hand it over. That act is ministerial: it does not, by itself, turn him into a witness. Because he is not a witness, the opposite party has no right to cross-examine him — not on the document, not on anything — unless and until a party actually calls him as a witness to give evidence. The practical point: a mere custodian (a bank clerk with the ledgers, a records-keeper with a file) can be made to bring the record without being exposed to cross-examination. If a side wants to question him, it must take the further step of calling him into the box as a witness — and only then do the rights of examination and cross-examination attach.

→ This carries forward IEA 1872 § 139 — producing a document does not make one a witness, nor open one to cross-examination.

Glossary

summoned to produce a document

Ordered to bring and hand over a document to the court.

does not become a witness

Producing alone does not give him a witness’s status.

by the mere fact that he produces it

The act of production, without more.

cross-examined

Questioned by the opposing party.

unless and until he is called as a witness

Only once a party actually calls him to give evidence.

producer vs witness

One who merely brings a document is not one who testifies.

The picture

Handing over a document is a ministerial act — cross-examination attaches only to being called as a witness.

summoned to PRODUCEa documenthe brings & hands it overdoes NOT become awitness by producingcannot becross-examinedUNLESS and UNTIL he is called as a witnessonly then do examination and cross-examination attacha mere custodian can bring the record without entering the witness box

The section, part by part

Tap a part — the picture-story tells it first; the word-by-word text and example follow.

produce ≠ witnessHanding over a document is not giving evidence

In one lineA person summoned to produce a document does not become a witness merely because he produces it.
produces the documenta ministerial act —just brings & hands it instill NOT a witnessno witness status attachesbringing a document to court is not the same as testifying to it
A person summoned to produce a document does not become a witness by the mere fact that he produces it,production alone confers no witness status…the act of producing, without being called to give evidence, leaves him a mere producer.
ExampleA bank clerk is summoned to produce the ledgers. He hands them over and steps aside — he has not become a witness, and no party has any right to question him on their contents.
✗ Not thisThe producer is not in the witness box merely because he answered the summons. Producing a document is a ministerial step, distinct from testifying about it.

no cross unless calledCross-examination attaches only once he is called as a witness

In one lineHe cannot be cross-examined — on the document or anything else — unless and until a party actually calls him as a witness.
mere producer→ cannot becross-examinedcalled asa witnessnow a witness→ may be examinedand cross-examinedthe right to cross-examine follows from being CALLED — not from producing
and cannot be cross-examined unless and until he is called as a witness.no cross until he is called as a witnessif a side wants to question him, it must take the further step of calling him into the box.
ExampleThe opposing party wants to challenge the clerk on how the ledgers were kept. It cannot cross-examine the mere producer — it must first call him as a witness; only then can it question him.
✗ Not thisThe other side gets no cross-examination as of right just because a document was produced. The bar lifts only when the person is called as a witness to give evidence.

Connected provisions

§ 143 · back

Order of examinations

Cross-examination comes after examination-in-chief — but only for a person who is a witness.

§ 145 · next

Witnesses to character

A witness to character may be cross-examined and re-examined like any other.

Chapter IX

Of Witnesses

The examination of witnesses — who may be questioned, and how. See the chapter map.

lineage

IEA 1872, § 139

Carried forward — producing a document does not make one a witness, nor open one to cross-examination.