CHAPTER III. PUBLIC NON-JUDICIAL WRITINGS. PUBLIC writings, which are not of a judicial character, are evidence of the matters which they purport to declare; provided they appear to have been obtained from proper custody, i. e., from a place where it is reasonable to presume that they would be deposited, if authentic. The question of proper custody under this head applies more exclusively to the case of such ancient documents as were considered incidentally in the ninth and tenth chapters of this work; and it will be sufficient to refer to those chapters for the principles which regulate the admissibility and effect of ancient charters, grants, terriers, inquisitions, or surveys. On the general question as to what constitutes a proper place of custody, see supra, p. 184. The proof of public non-judicial documents is now chiefly regulated by the Law of Evidence Amendment Act, 1851 (a), s. 14 of which enacts that "whenever any book or other document is of such a public nature as to be admissible in evidence on its mere production from the proper custody, and no statute exists which renders its contents provable by (a) 14 & 15 Vict. c. 99. a copy; any copy thereof, or extract therefrom, shall be admissible in evidence in any court of justice, or before any person now or hereafter having by law or consent of parties authority to hear, receive, and examine evidence, provided it be proved to be an examined copy or extract, or provided it purport to be signed and certified as a true copy or extract by the officer to whose custody the original is entrusted, and which officer is hereby required to furnish such certified copy or extract to any person applying at a reasonable time for the same, upon payment of a reasonable sum for the same, not exceeding fourpence for every folio of ninety words." Under this section it has been held that an unstamped copy of an act-book of the Ecclesiastical Court is evidence of probate to prove executorship (b). So the journals of the House of Lords, entries in the books of tax-collectors, commissioners of the excise or customs, secretaries of state, munici pal or parliamentary electors, which were provable before the act by examined copies, may now be proved either by examined or certified copies under the act. So charters, letters-patent, grants from the Crown, pardons and commissions, may be proved either by originals, or examined or certified copies; or also, as it seems, by exemplifications under the great seal. As to royal proclamations, orders in Council, and orders of Government departments, see supra, p. 319. As to proclamations, treaties, &c., of foreign states or colonies, see supra, p. 339. (b) Dorret v. Meux, 15 C. B. 142. The 14 & 15 Vict. c. 19, s. 14, cited above, has virtually superseded the 8 & 9 Vict. c. 113, s. 1 (the Documentary Evidence Act, 1845), as far as it refers to public documents: but, as the two acts are construed cumulatively, and as the earlier act extends to some private documents, it is subjoined. The Documentary Evidence Act, 1845 (c), s. 1, provides that "Whenever by any act now in force, or hereafter to be in force, any certificate, official or public document, or document or proceeding of any corporation or joint-stock or other company, or any certified copy of any document, bye-law, entry in any register, or other book, or of any other proceeding, shall be receivable in evidence in any judicial proceeding, the same shall respectively be admitted in evidence, provided they purport to be sealed or impressed with a stamp, or sealed or signed alone, as required, or impressed with a stamp and signed as directed by the acts made or hereafter to be made, without any proof of the seal or stamp, where a seal or stamp is necessary, or of the signature, or of the official character of the person appearing to have signed the same, and without any further proof, in every case in which the original record would have been received in evidence." The effect of these enactments, as to documents of a public nature, is to allow the substitution of certified or examined copies in all cases in which the original, if produced, would be evidence. Whenever, therefore, it is proposed to tender an (c) 8 & 9 Vict. c. 113. examined or certified copy of a public document in the place of an original, the practical question is, whether the original is such a public document as is intrinsically evidence per se (d). It must be remembered that, notwithstanding the Documentary Evidence Acts, and the 14 & 15 Vict. c. 88, s. 14, there are numerous cases in which the originals of documents, apparently of a public nature, must still be produced, and where neither certificates nor examined copies are admissible. A considerable degree of vagueness still attaches even to many cases in which certified or examined copies are clearly admissible; and it should be remembered that, whenever a doubt exists as to whether a document is public or private, the prudent and the right course will be to be provided with the originals. Where a public document or mark requires to be authenticated, it may be proved by any expert and credible witness. Thus the Post-Office mark may be proved by any post-master, or by any one who is in the habit of receiving letters by the post (e). Those descriptions of public documents which are practically most important will now be considered. First: REGISTERS OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS. "Parish registers are in the nature of records, and need not be produced, or proved by subscribing witnesses" (f). They are therefore provable under the (d) Linsey v. Linsey, 29 L. J., P. & M. 128. (e) Abbey v. Lill, 5 Bing. 299. (f) Per Lord Mansfield, Birt v. Barlow, Doug. 172. 14 & 15 Vict. c. 19, s. 14, by copies purporting to be signed by the incumbents of the parishes (g). It should appear that the original is in the proper custody, which, in the case of marriage, baptismal, and death registers, is with the incumbent, and not the parish clerk (h). The register, or the copy, as the case may be, is only proof of the fact of a marriage, or a birth, or a death, of a person or persons therein named. It is no evidence of the identity of a party; nor is a baptismal registry evidence of the date of the birth (i), but it is of age (j). Identity must be shown extrinsically; in the case of a marriage, either by proving the handwriting of the parties, or by calling a witness who was present at the marriage (k); but the handwriting may be spoken to without producing the register (7). By the 52 Geo. 3, c. 146, s. 7, verified copies of all registers of baptisms and burials are to be sent yearly by all ministers to the registrar of their diocese; and by the 6 & 7 Will. 4, c. 86, s. 38, "the RegistrarGeneral shall cause to be sealed or stamped" with the seal of his office, "all certified copies of entries given in his said office: and all certified copies of entries purporting to be sealed or stamped with the seal of the said register office shall be received as (g) In re Hall's Estate, 9 Hare, App. xvi. (h) Doe v. Fowler, 19 L. J., Q. B. 151. (i) In re Wintle, L. R., 9 Eq. 373; 18 W. R. 394. (j) R. v. Weaver, L. R., 2 C. C. R. 85; 43 L. J., M. C. 13; 22 W. R. 190. (k) Birt v. Barlow, Doug. 272. |