33. Right of accused to prepare defence.—(1) Correspondence between the accused and his legal advisers shall not be liable to be censored. The accused shall inform his commanding officer of the names of such advisers and shall also inform him of any distinctive marks that such correspondence will bear.
(2) An accused person shall have the right to interview any witnesses whom he may wish to call in his defence. The provisions of rule 137 shall apply to procuring the attendance of such witnesses.
(3) If the accused so desires, the commanding officer of the accused shall take such steps as the circumstances of the case permit to obtain a written statement from a witness whom the accused may wish to call in his defence. The statement shall be obtained in a closed envelope, which shall be given to the accused person unopened.
(4) If the accused person gives to his commanding officer the name of any person whom he wishes to call in his defence, no person shall interview such witness with reference to the charges against the accused except in the presence of the accused, unless the accused agrees to dispense with his presence in writing. Similarly if the accused wishes to interview a witness whom the prosecutor intends to call, the interview shall be in the presence of an officer detailed by the commanding officer of the accused person.
(5) The commanding officer of the accused person or the officer responsible for his custody shall take adequate precautions so that no conversation, which the accused person may have with his legal advisers or witnesses, is liable to be overheard.
(6) The accused person shall have the right to address an application to the Deputy or Assistant Judge Advocate General of the command within which he for the time being is, if he is kept under arrest longer than forty-eight days without being brought to trial or is not given full liberty for preparing his defence.
(7) As soon as practicable after an accused has been remanded for trial by a general or district court-martial, and in any case not less than ninety-six hours or on active service twenty-four hours before his trial, an officer shall given to him free of charge a copy of the summary of evidence, an abstract of the evidence, and explain to him his rights under these rules as to preparing his defence and being assisted or represented at the trial, and shall ask him to state in writing whether or not he wishes to have an officer assigned by the convening officer to represent him at the trial, if a suitable officer should be available. The convening officer shall be informed whether or not the accused so elects.
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