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Evidence Act 2006

Evidence from overseas or to be used overseas - Evidence for use in overseas criminal proceedings

197: Solicitor may take affidavit or declaration

You could also call this:

"A solicitor can help someone make a formal statement for a court case in another country."

Illustration for Evidence Act 2006

If you are a solicitor of the High Court, you can take an affidavit or declaration from someone for a court case happening in another country. You can do this if the court case is a criminal one and you have the right papers. The affidavit or declaration must have a special title that says it is for the Evidence Act 2006.

You need a written certificate to take the affidavit or declaration, and this can come from the overseas court or an overseas representative of that country. The certificate must say that the affidavit or declaration is needed for the court case.

If you get a certificate from an overseas representative, you must write down their name and job title on the affidavit or declaration. An affidavit is a statement made in front of a solicitor, and a declaration is a written statement that the person making it says is true, also made in front of a solicitor. You can find more information about this by looking at the Evidence Act 2006 and other related laws.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM394521.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal help
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Part 4Evidence from overseas or to be used overseas
Evidence for use in overseas criminal proceedings

197Solicitor may take affidavit or declaration

  1. It is lawful for any solicitor of the High Court to take the affidavit or declaration of any person in relation to any criminal proceedings that are certified in accordance with this section to be pending in any overseas court.

  2. An affidavit or declaration referred to in subsection (1) must be intituled In the matter of section 197 of the Evidence Act 2006, and a declaration referred to in subsection (1) may be expressed to be made under the provisions of this section.

  3. No affidavit or declaration referred to in subsection (1) may be taken unless the solicitor taking it has received a written certificate—

  4. from the overseas court that the affidavit or declaration is required for the purpose of criminal proceedings pending in the court; or
    1. from an overseas representative of the country in which the overseas court exercises jurisdiction that he or she believes the affidavit or declaration to be required for the purpose of criminal proceedings pending in the overseas court.

      1. A certificate for the purposes of subsection (3)(a) may be given by any Judge or judicial officer of the overseas court, or by any Registrar or other officer of that court.

      2. If a certificate is given under subsection (3)(b), the jurat or attestation of the affidavit or declaration must state the name and official designation of the overseas representative on whose certificate the affidavit or declaration has been taken.

      3. In this section,—

        affidavit means any affidavit or affirmation made before a solicitor of the High Court

          declaration means any written statement declared by the maker of the statement to be true in the presence of a solicitor of the High Court.

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