Statute Law Revision Act 2007

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Evidence of certain early statutes, etc.

8.— (1) In addition to the provisions of the Evidence Act 1845 , the Documentary Evidence Act 1868 and the Documentary Evidence Act 1882 (in so far as they relate to the following publications), prima facie evidence of a statute may be given in all courts and in all legal proceedings—

(a) by producing a copy of the statute as published in one of the following publications:

(i) the Historic and Municipal Documents of Ireland, 1172 to 1320, published in 1870 by the authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls (in the Schedules referred to as “H.M.D.I.”);

(ii) the Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, 1171 to 1251, published in 1875 by the authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls (in the Schedules referred to as “C.D.I. vol. 1”);

(iii) the Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, 1252 to 1284, published in 1877 by the authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls (in the Schedules referred to as “C.D.I. vol. 2”);

(iv) the Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, 1285 to 1292, published in 1879 by the authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls (in the Schedules referred to as “C.D.I. vol. 3”);

(v) the Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, 1293 to 1301, published in 1881 by the authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls (in the Schedules referred to as “C.D.I. vol. 4”);

(vi) the Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, 1302 to 1307, published in 1886 by the authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls (in the Schedules referred to as “C.D.I. vol. 5”);

(vii) the Statutes and ordinances, and acts of the Parliament of Ireland, King John to Henry V (being the first volume of the Irish Record Office Series of Early Statutes) published in 1907 under the authority of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury and under the direction of the Master of the Rolls in Ireland (in the Schedules referred to as “P.R.O. vol. 1”);

(viii) the Statute rolls of the Parliament of Ireland, reign of Henry the Sixth (being the second volume of the Irish Record Office Series of Early Statutes) published in 1910 under the authority of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury and under the direction of the Master of the Rolls in Ireland (in the Schedules referred to as “P.R.O. vol. 2”);

(ix) the Statute rolls of the Parliament of Ireland, 1st to 12th years of the reign of King Edward IV (being the third volume of the Irish Record Office Series of Early Statutes) published in 1914 under the authority of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury and under the direction of the Master of the Rolls in Ireland (in the Schedules referred to as “P.R.O. vol. 3”);

(x) the Statute rolls of the Parliament of Ireland, 12th and 13th to the 21st and 22nd years of the reign of King Edward IV (being the fourth volume of the series of the Irish Record Office Series of Early Statutes) published in 1939 under the authority of the Minister for Finance and under the direction of the Minister for Justice (in the Schedules referred to as “P.R.O. vol. 4”);

(xi) the Statute rolls of the Irish Parliament, Richard III to Henry VIII (being the fifth volume in the series of early Irish statutes) published in 2002 by the National Archives of Ireland (in the Schedules referred to as “P.R.O. vol. 5”);

or

(b) by producing a copy taken from the copy of the statute as published in any publication referred to in paragraph (a), where the copy so taken is certified by an official of a specified institution to be a true and accurate copy of the statute as appears in the publication concerned; and any document purporting to be a copy so taken (however expressed) shall be received in evidence without proof of the official position or handwriting of the person signing the certificate, or of his or her authority to do so.

(2) (a) In subsection (1)(b) “specified institution” means the National Library of Ireland, or such other library or archive as may be designated in writing by the Taoiseach under paragraph (b).

(b) The Taoiseach may designate a library or archive for the purposes of this section and, except where otherwise provided for by the designation, the designation shall be deemed to be made in respect of all of the publications referred to in subsection (1)(a). A designation under this paragraph may be revoked.

(c) Notice of the making of a designation under paragraph (b) or a revocation under that paragraph, shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as practicable after it has been made.

(3) A specified institution may impose a charge or charges for the purpose of covering the costs incurred by it in providing under this section a copy of a statute, including costs relating to retrieving and copying from the publication concerned and checking and certifying the copy of the statute.