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EVIDENCE ACT 1906 - SECT 47

EVIDENCE ACT 1906 - SECT 47

47 .         Conviction, acquittal and identity, proof of

        (1)         A conviction or an acquittal of any person may be proved in any proceeding whatever by producing a record or extract of such conviction or acquittal, and by giving proof of the identity of the person in respect of whom the conviction or acquittal is sought to be proved with the person appearing in the record or extract of conviction or acquittal to have been convicted or acquitted.

        (1a)         For the purpose of proving the identity of a person alleged to have been convicted, whether before or after the commencement of the Evidence Act Amendment Act 1956 , an affidavit substantially in the form in the Sixth Schedule shall be admissible in evidence in all courts and shall be prima facie evidence that the person whose fingerprints are exhibited thereto —

            (a)         is the person, who, in any document exhibited to the affidavit and purporting to be a record or abstract or certificate of conviction or a certified copy of a record or abstract or certificate of conviction, is referred to as having been convicted;

            (b)         has been convicted of the offences mentioned in the affidavit.

        (2)         A record or extract of a conviction or acquittal may, in the case of an indictable offence, consist of a certificate containing the substance and effect only (omitting the formal part of the indictment and conviction or acquittal), and purporting to be signed by the clerk of the court or other officer having the custody of the records of the court before which such conviction or acquittal took place, or purporting to be signed by the deputy of such clerk or officer; and, in the case of a summary conviction or acquittal, may consist of a copy of such conviction or acquittal purporting to be signed by any justice of the peace having jurisdiction over the offence in respect of which such conviction or acquittal took place, or to be signed by the proper officer of the court before which such conviction or acquittal took place, or by the clerk or other officer of any court to which such conviction or acquittal has been returned.

        (3)         A record or extract of any conviction or acquittal made in pursuance of this section shall be admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the same.

        (4)         A conviction or an acquittal in any part of Her Majesty’s dominions may be proved under this section in respect of any person, and a conviction or an acquittal before the passing of this Act shall be admissible in the same manner as if it had taken place after the passing thereof.

        (5)         The mode of proving a conviction or an acquittal or identity authorised by this section shall be in addition to, and not in exclusion of, any other authorised mode of proving such conviction or acquittal or identity.

        (6)         A conviction shall be presumed not to have been appealed against or quashed or set aside until the contrary is shown.

        [Section 47 amended: No. 16 of 1956 s. 3.]

[ 48.         Deleted: No. 70 of 1988 s. 41.]