Proof of foreign and colonial acts of state, judgments, orders and judicial proceedings

(1) All proclamations, treaties and other acts of state of any foreign country or of any British colony or possession, and all judgments, decrees, orders and other judicial proceedings of any court of justice in any foreign country or in any British colony or possession, and all affidavits, pleadings and other legal documents filed or deposited in that court, may be proved either by examined copies or by copies authenticated as mentioned in this section– (a) if the document sought to be proved is a proclamation, treaty, or other act of state, the authenticated copy, to be admissible in evidence, must purport to be sealed with the seal of the foreign country, or of the British colony or possession, to which the original document belongs; and (b) if the document sought to be proved is a judgment, decree, order or other judicial proceeding of any foreign or colonial court, or an affidavit, pleading or other legal document filed or deposited in that court, the authenticated copy, to be admissible in evidence, must purport either to be sealed with the seal of the foreign or colonial court to which the original document belongs or, in the event of that court having no seal, to be signed by the judge or, if there are more judges than one, by any one of the judges, of that court, and the judge must attach to his signature a statement in writing on the copy that the court whereof he is judge has no seal. (2) Any of the authenticated copies purporting to be sealed or signed as mentioned in sub-section (1)(a) and (b) shall be admissible in evidence in every case in which the original document 23 could have been received in evidence, without any proof of the seal, where a seal is necessary, or of the signature or the truth of the statement attached thereto, where that signature and that statement are necessary, or of the judicial character of the person appearing to have made the signature and statement.