(_h_) Nothing in this Act shall affect the provisions of section eighteen of the Indictable Offences Act, 1848, or any right of the person charged to make a statement without being sworn. =2.= Where the only witness to the facts of the case called by the defence is the person charged, he shall be called as a witness immediately after the close of the evidence for the prosecution. =3.= In cases where the right of reply depends upon the question whether evidence has been called for the defence, the fact that the person charged has been called as a witness shall not of itself confer on the prosecution the right of reply. =4.= (1) The wife or husband of a person charged with an offence under any enactment mentioned in the schedule to this Act may be called as a witness either for the prosecution or defence and without the consent of the person charged. (2) Nothing in this Act shall affect a case where the wife or husband of a person charged with an offence may at common law be called as a witness without the consent of that person. =5.= In Scotland, in a case where a list of witnesses is required, the husband or wife of a person charged shall not be called as a witness for the defence, unless notice be given in the terms prescribed by section thirty-six of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1887. =6.= (1) This Act shall apply to all criminal proceedings, notwithstanding any enactment in force at the commencement of this Act, except that nothing in this Act shall affect the Evidence Act, 1877. (2) But this Act shall not apply to proceedings in courts martial unless so applied-- (_a_) as to courts martial under the Naval Discipline Act, by general orders made in pursuance of section sixty-five of that Act, and (_b_) as to courts martial under the Army Act by rules made in pursuance of section seventy of that Act. =7.= (1) This Act shall not extend to Ireland. (2) This Act shall come into operation on the expiration of two months from the passing thereof. (3) This Act may be cited as the Criminal Evidence Act, 1898.