Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

122.   Proof of contents of documents

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    (1)   A party may adduce evidence of the contents of a document in question—

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      (a)     by tendering the document in question;

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      (b)     by adducing evidence of an admission made by some other party to the proceedings as to the contents of the document in question;

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      (c)     by tendering a document that—

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        (i)     is or purports to be a copy of the document in question, and

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        (ii)     has been produced, or purports to have been produced, by a device that reproduces the contents of documents;

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      (d)     if the document in question is an article or thing by which words are recorded in such a way as to be capable of being reproduced as sound, or in which words are recorded in a code, including shorthand writing, by tendering a document that is, or purports to be, a transcript of the words;

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      (e)     if the document in question is an article or thing on or in which information is stored in such a manner that it cannot be used by the court unless a device is used to retrieve, produce or collate it, by tendering a document that was or purports to have been produced by use of the device;

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      (f)     by tendering a document that—

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        (i)     forms part of the records of or kept by a business, whether or not the business is still in existence, and

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        (ii)     purports to be a copy of, or an extract from or a summary of, the document in question, or is or purports to be a copy of such a document; or

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      (g)     if the document in question is a public document, by tendering a document, that was or purports to have been printed—

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        (i)     by the Government Printery, or

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        (ii)     by the authority of the government of a foreign country,

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    and is or purports to be a copy of the document in question.

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    (2)   Subsection (1) applies in relation to a document in question, whether the document in question is available to the party or not.

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    (3)   A party may adduce evidence of the contents of a document in question that is unavailable—

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      (a)     by tendering a document that is a copy of, or a faithful extract from or summary of, the document in question; or

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      (b)     by adducing oral evidence of the contents of the document in question.