Proof of documents by production of certified copies

Certified copies may be used to prove the contents of public documents or parts of them. When a produced copy is certified as a true copy of a public document, that certified copy stands as evidence of the contents it reproduces. The original document need not be produced for those contents.

Priya must prove the date on a municipal birth register. She produces a certified copy of the register page. The court accepts that certified copy as proof of the register's contents, so she does not have to bring the original register.