Page:Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.pdf/75

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 71. In any proceedings the contents of a document may (whether or not the document is still in existence) be proved by the production of an enlargement of a microfilm copy of that document or of the material part of it, authenticated in such manner as the court may approve.

72.—(1) In this Part of this Act—
 * “copy” and “statement” have the same meanings as in Part I of the Civil Evidence Act 1968; and
 * “proceedings” means criminal proceedings, including—
 * (a) proceedings in the United Kingdom or elsewhere before a court-martial constituted under the Army Act 1955 or the Air Force Act 1955;
 * (b) proceedings in the United Kingdom or elsewhere before the Courts-Martial Appeal Court—
 * (i) on an appeal from a court-martial so constituted or from a court-martial constituted under the Naval Discipline Act 1957; or
 * (ii)on a reference under section 34 of the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968; and
 * (c) proceedings before a Standing Civilian Court.

(2) Nothing in this Part of this Act shall prejudice any power of a court to exclude evidence (whether by preventing questions from being put or otherwise) at its discretion.    Convictions and acquittals

73.—(1) Where in any proceedings the fact that a person has in the United Kingdom been convicted or acquitted of an offence otherwise than by a Service court is admissible in evidence, it may be proved by producing a certificate of conviction or, as the case may be, of acquittal relating to that offence, and proving that the person named in the certificate as having been convicted or acquitted of the offence is the person whose conviction or acquittal of the offence is to be proved.

(2) For the purposes of this section a certificate of conviction or of acquittal—
 * (a) shall, as regards a conviction or acquittal on indictment, consist of a certificate, signed by the clerk of the court where the conviction or acquittal took place, giving the substance and effect (omitting the formal parts) of the indictment and of the conviction or acquittal; and