Commonwealth Numbered Acts

EVIDENCE ACT 1995 No. 2 of 1995 - SECT 48

48. (1) A party may adduce evidence of the contents of a document in question
by tendering the document in question or by any one or more of the following
methods:

   (a)  adducing evidence of an admission made by another party to the
        proceeding as to the contents of the document in question;

   (b)  tendering a document that:

        (i)    is or purports to be a copy of the document in question; and

        (ii)   has been produced, or purports to have been produced, by a
               device that reproduces the contents of documents;

   (c)  if the document in question is an article or thing by which words are
        recorded in such a way as to be capable of being reproduced as sound,
        or in which words are recorded in a code (including shorthand
        writing)-tendering a document that is or purports to be a transcript
        of the words;

   (d)  if the document in question is an article or thing on or in which
        information is stored in such a way that it cannot be used by the
        court unless a device is used to retrieve, produce or collate
        it-tendering a document that was or purports to have been produced by
        use of the device;

   (e)  tendering a document that:

        (i)    forms part of the records of or kept by a business (whether or
               not the business is still in existence); and

        (ii)   is or purports to be a copy of, or an extract from or a summary
               of, the document in question, or is or purports to be a copy of
               such an extract or summary;

   (f)  if the document in question is a public document-tendering a document
        that is or purports to be a copy of the document in question and that
        is or purports to have been printed:

        (i)    by the Government Printer or by the government or official
               printer of a State or Territory; or

        (ii)   by authority of the government or administration of the
               Commonwealth, a State, a Territory or a foreign country; or

        (iii)  by authority of an Australian Parliament, a House of an
               Australian Parliament, a committee of such a House or a
               committee of an Australian Parliament.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to a document in question whether the document in
question is available to the party or not.

(3) If the party adduces evidence of the contents of a document under
paragraph (1) (a), the evidence may only be used:

   (a)  in respect of the party's case against the other party who made the
        admission concerned; or

   (b)  in respect of the other party's case against the party who adduced the
        evidence in that way.

(4) A party may adduce evidence of the contents of a document in question that
is not available to the party, or the existence and contents of which are not
in issue in the proceeding, by:

   (a)  tendering a document that is a copy of, or an extract from or summary
        of, the document in question; or

   (b)  adducing oral evidence of the contents of the document in question.
        Note: Clause 5 of Part 2 of the Dictionary is about the availability
        of documents.