SECTIONS 1530-1532 - California Statutes

EVIDENCE CODE

SECTION 1530-1532

1530. (a) A purported copy of a writing in the custody of a public
entity, or of an entry in such a writing, is prima facie evidence of
the existence and content of such writing or entry if:
(1) The copy purports to be published by the authority of the
nation or state, or public entity therein in which the writing is
kept;
(2) The office in which the writing is kept is within the United
States or within the Panama Canal Zone, the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands, or the Ryukyu Islands, and the copy is attested or
certified as a correct copy of the writing or entry by a public
employee, or a deputy of a public employee, having the legal custody
of the writing; or
(3) The office in which the writing is kept is not within the
United States or any other place described in paragraph (2) and the
copy is attested as a correct copy of the writing or entry by a
person having authority to make attestation. The attestation must be
accompanied by a final statement certifying the genuineness of the
signature and the official position of (i) the person who attested
the copy as a correct copy or (ii) any foreign official who has
certified either the genuineness of the signature and official
position of the person attesting the copy or the genuineness of the
signature and official position of another foreign official who has
executed a similar certificate in a chain of such certificates
beginning with a certificate of the genuineness of the signature and
official position of the person attesting the copy. Except as
provided in the next sentence, the final statement may be made only
by a secretary of an embassy or legation, consul general, consul,
vice consul, or consular agent of the United States, or a diplomatic
or consular official of the foreign country assigned or accredited to
the United States. Prior to January 1, 1971, the final statement may
also be made by a secretary of an embassy or legation, consul
general, consul, vice consul, consular agent, or other officer in the
foreign service of the United States stationed in the nation in
which the writing is kept, authenticated by the seal of his office.
If reasonable opportunity has been given to all parties to
investigate the authenticity and accuracy of the documents, the court
may, for good cause shown, (i) admit an attested copy without the
final statement or (ii) permit the writing or entry in foreign
custody to be evidenced by an attested summary with or without a
final statement.
(b) The presumptions established by this section are presumptions
affecting the burden of producing evidence.

1531. For the purpose of evidence, whenever a copy of a writing is
attested or certified, the attestation or certificate must state in
substance that the copy is a correct copy of the original, or of a
specified part thereof, as the case may be.

1532. (a) The official record of a writing is prima facie evidence
of the existence and content of the original recorded writing if:
(1) The record is in fact a record of an office of a public
entity; and
(2) A statute authorized such a writing to be recorded in that
office.
(b) The presumption established by this section is a presumption
affecting the burden of producing evidence.