(1)Where notice of transfer has been given, the person charged may at any time before he is arraigned apply orally or in writing to the Crown Court for the charge to be dismissed on the ground that the evidence which has been disclosed would not be sufficient for a jury properly to convict him of it.
(2)Subject to subsection (4) below, oral evidence may be given on the hearing of such an application only with leave of the judge.
(3)The judge shall grant such leave only if it appears to him, having regard to any matters stated in the application for leave, that the interests of justice require him to do so.
(4)The judge may order a person who has made a written statement which it is proposed to adduce in evidence to supplement that statement by oral evidence.
(5)If—
(a)the judge makes an order under subsection (4) above; and
(b)the written statement is submitted to the court,
the statement shall not be admitted as evidence unless
(i)the person who made it gives oral evidence; or
(ii)the judge gives leave for it to be admitted without his doing so.
(6)In deciding whether to grant an application under this section the judge shall have regard—
(a)to the evidence tendered by the prosecution;
(b)to any written or oral statement tendered by the defence in support of the application; and
(c)to any oral evidence on behalf of the prosecution or the defence given under this section,
(7)A discharge under this section shall have the same effect as a refusal by examining magistrates to commit for trial, except that no further proceedings may thereafter be brought on the charge except by means of the preferment of a voluntary bill of indictment.