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Evidence Act 2006

Trial process - Documentary evidence and evidence produced by machine, device, or technical process - Special rules applying where no requirement for legalisation of foreign public document

147: Foreign public documents: Convention certificates sufficient authentication of certain matters

You could also call this:

"What proof is needed for documents from other countries to be accepted in New Zealand"

Illustration for Evidence Act 2006

If you are dealing with a foreign public document, a New Zealand authority may only require a Convention certificate to confirm certain things. This includes checking if the signature on the document is real, what role the person signing the document had, and what seal or stamp is on the document. You can find more information about this by looking at the related legislation.

If a foreign public document does not need to be legalised, a New Zealand authority cannot require a Convention certificate for these things. A New Zealand authority must accept a Convention certificate as proof of these things, unless someone can prove it is wrong. This does not stop a New Zealand authority from accepting other proof that is not a Convention certificate.

A New Zealand authority can accept a Convention certificate as proof that a foreign public document is real and that the person who signed it had the right to do so. They can also accept proof that the seal or stamp on the document is real. You can look at other laws for more information about this.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM394203.

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146: Foreign public documents: certificates as to contracting States under Convention, or

"Proof that a country follows certain rules under a Convention"

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148: Evidence of public documents by reference to Australian law, or

"Using Australian public documents as evidence in a New Zealand court"

Part 3Trial process
Documentary evidence and evidence produced by machine, device, or technical process: Special rules applying where no requirement for legalisation of foreign public document

147Foreign public documents: Convention certificates sufficient authentication of certain matters

  1. A Convention certificate placed on, or attached to, a foreign public document is the only formality that a New Zealand authority may require, in relation to the document, as evidence or certification of—

  2. the authenticity of the signature on the document; and
    1. the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted; and
      1. where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp that the document bears.

        1. If a foreign public document is not subject to a requirement of legalisation, no New Zealand authority may require, in relation to the document, a Convention certificate as evidence or certification of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1).

        2. A New Zealand authority must accept, in relation to a foreign public document, a Convention certificate placed on, or attached to, the document as sufficient evidence or certification of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1), unless the contrary is proved.

        3. Subsection (3) does not prevent a New Zealand authority from accepting, in relation to a foreign public document, a lesser formality than a Convention certificate placed on, or attached to, the document as evidence or certification of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1).

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