Certified copies of declarations

(1) A declaration made under this Part shall be filed and kept by the Chief Executive Officer, and copies thereof, certified to be true copies as by this Part is directed, shall respectively be admitted in all proceedings civil and criminal, 13 and upon every occasion, touching any newspaper mentioned in any such declaration, or touching any publication, matter or thing contained in any such newspaper, as conclusive evidence of the truth of all such matters set forth in declaration as are required to be therein set forth, and of their continuance respectively in the same condition down to the time in question against every person who has signed the declaration, unless it is proved, (a) that previous to such time such person became a person of unsound mind; (b) that previous to the publication in question on such trial such person did duly sign and make a declaration that such person had ceased to be a printer, publisher or proprietor of such newspaper, and did duly deliver the same to the Chief Executive Officer; or (c) that previous to such occasion a new declaration of the same or a similar nature respectively, or such as may be required by law, was duly signed and made and delivered respecting the same newspaper, in which the person sought to be affected on such trial did not join. (2) The Chief Executive Officer shall, upon application in writing made to him by any person requiring a copy certified according to this Part of any such declaration, in order that the declaration may be produced in any criminal or civil proceeding, deliver such certified copy or cause the declaration to be delivered to the person applying for it upon payment of the sum of one dollar. (3) In all proceedings and on all occasions a copy of any such declaration certified to be a true copy under the hand of the Chief Executive Officer, upon proof made that such certificate has been signed by the Chief Executive Officer shall 14 be received in evidence against any person named in the declaration as a person making or signing the same, as sufficient proof of making the declaration, and that the same was duly signed and made according to this Part and of the contents thereof. (4) Every copy produced and certified shall have the same effect for the purposes of evidence against any person named therein, to all intents as if the original declaration, of which the copy produced purports to be a copy, had been produced in evidence, and proved to have been duly signed and made by the person appearing by such copy to have signed and made the declaration. (5) Whenever a certified copy of any declaration has been produced in evidence as mentioned in subsection (3) of this section, against any person having signed and made the declaration, and a newspaper is afterwards produced in evidence intituled in the same manner as the newspaper mentioned in the declaration is intituled, and wherein the name of the printer and publisher and the place of printing is the same as the name of the printer and publisher and place of printing mentioned in the declaration, or purports to be the same, whether such title, name and place printed upon such newspaper is set forth in the same form of words as is contained in the declaration, or in any form of words varying there from, it shall not be necessary for the plaintiff, informer or prosecutor in any action, prosecution or other proceeding, to prove that the newspaper to which the action, prosecution or other proceeding relates was purchased from the defendant, or at any house, shop or office belonging to or occupied by the defendant, or by his servants or workmen, or where he usually carries on the business of printing or publishing such newspaper, or where the newspaper is usually sold. (6) Every person, other than the Chief Executive Officer, who gives any certificate purporting to be such certificate, or who presumes to certify any of the matters or things by this Part directed to be certified by the Chief Executive Officer, or 15 which the Chief Executive Officer is empowered or entrusted to certify shall forfeit the sum of one thousand dollars. (7) If the Chief Executive Officer knowingly and falsely certifies under his hand that any declaration as is required to be made by this Part was duly signed and made before him or some district officer, the declaration not having been so signed and made, or knowingly and wilfully falsely certifies that any copy of any declaration is a true copy of the declaration of which the same is certified to be such copy, the same not being a true copy, he shall forfeit the sum of one thousand dollars.