• 17. (1) The prosecutor or the accused may request the court to rule that a fact or matter is within section 15 or 16, and he shall, if requested by the court, furnish the court with information relevant to the fact or matter.

• (2) The court shall give the adverse party an opportunity to oppose the granting of the request.

• 18. (1) When a court proposes to take or appears to be taking judicial notice of a fact or matter under section 15 or 16, or is requested to take judicial notice of it under section 17, both prosecutor and accused have the right to submit informally evidence and argument as to the competence of the court to take, or the propriety of the court taking, judicial notice.

• (2) When the court or the judge advocate raises a question as to whether judicial notice may be taken of a fact or matter under section 15 or 16, the judge advocate shall decide the question, and his decision shall be final.

• (3) When determining whether to take judicial notice of a fact or matter, the members of a court and the judge advocate may consult any source of pertinent information, including a person, document or book, whether or not furnished by a party, and use the information obtained therefrom.

• (4) If the information possessed by the court, regardless of source, fails to convince the judge advocate that a fact or matter is clearly within section 15 or 16, he shall rule against taking judicial notice of the fact or matter.

• 19. (1) No evidence of a fact of which a court has taken judicial notice need be given by the party alleging its existence or truth.

• (2) When a court has taken judicial notice of a fact, it is conclusively taken to be true, and no allegedly contradictory evidence is thereafter admissible.

20. Except as prescribed in this Division, the prosecutor shall not introduce evidence of the general bad character or reputation of the accused, or of another act or other acts of the accused similar in essential respects to the act charged.

• 21. (1) The accused may, by cross-examination or by witnesses, introduce evidence of his good character or reputation and, if he does so, the prosecutor may similarly introduce evidence to rebut it.

• (2) A witness testifying as to the character or reputation of the accused may

  • (a) report the general reputation of the accused among those who know him or would know about him respecting traits of his character relevant to the charge; and

  • (b) state his personal opinion of the general character of the accused in respects relevant to the charge.

• (3) When a witness is testifying as to the character or reputation of the accused, he shall not give evidence of particular acts of the accused as the basis of his report or opinion of the reputation or character of the accused, but shall answer questions concerning the duration and nature of his acquaintance or association with the accused, or with others who would be likely to know the accused.

• (4) Notwithstanding Divisions V, VI, VII and VIII, hearsay or opinion evidence permitted under this article is admissible.

• (5) This section applies to testimony in the course of examination-in-chief, cross-examination and re-examination.