CIVIL EVIDENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971

	[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Search] [Feedback]
	Northern Irish Legislation
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Northern Irish Legislation >> CIVIL EVIDENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971

[Index] [Table] [Search] [Notes] [Noteup] [Previous] [Next] [Download] [Help]

CIVIL EVIDENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 - SECT 7



7.(1) In any civil proceedings the fact that a person has been convicted of an
offence by or before any court in the United Kingdom or by a court-martial
there or elsewhere shall (subject to subsection (3)) be admissible in evidence
for the purpose of proving, where to do so is relevant to any issue in those
proceedings, that he committed that offence, whether he was so convicted upon
a plea of guilty or otherwise and whether or not he is a party to the
civil proceedings; but no conviction other than a subsisting one shall be
admissible in evidence by virtue of this section.

(2) In any civil proceedings in which by virtue of this section a person is
proved to have been convicted of an offence by or before any court in the
United Kingdom or by a court-martial there or elsewhere

(a)he shall be taken to have committed that offence unless the contrary is
proved; and

(b)without prejudice to the reception of any other admissible evidence for the
purpose of identifying the facts on which the conviction was based, the
contents of any document which is admissible as evidence of the conviction,
and the contents of the information, complaint, indictment or charge-sheet on
which the person in question was convicted, shall be admissible in evidence
for that purpose.

(3) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the operation of section 9 or any
other enactment whereby a conviction or a finding of fact in any criminal
proceedings is for the purposes of any other proceedings made conclusive
evidence of any fact.

(4) Where in any civil proceedings the contents of any document are admissible
in evidence by virtue of subsection (2), a copy of that document, or of the
material part thereof, purporting to be certified or otherwise authenticated
by or on behalf of the court or authority having custody of that document
shall be admissible in evidence and shall be taken to be a true copy of that
document or part unless the contrary is shown.

(5) Nothing in any of the following statutory provisions, that is to say

(a)section 8 of the Probation Act (Northern Ireland) 1950 (under which a
conviction leading to probation or discharge is to be disregarded except as
therein mentioned);

(b)section 12 of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 (which makes similar provision
in respect of convictions on indictment in England and Wales); and

(c)section 9 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1949 (which corresponds to
the said section 8);

(6) In this section "court-martial" means a court-martial constituted under
the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 or the Naval Disipline Act 1957 or a
disciplinary court constituted under section 50 of the said Act of 1957, and
in relation to a court-martial "conviction", as regards a court-martial
constituted under either of the said Acts of 1955, means a finding of guilty
which is, or falls to be treated as, a finding of the court duly confirmed
and, as regards a court-martial or disciplinary court constituted under the
said Act of 1957, means a finding of guilty which is, or falls to be treated
as, the finding of the court, and "convicted" shall be construed accordingly.

[Index] [Table] [Search] [Notes] [Noteup] [Previous] [Next] [Download] [Help]

BAILII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback
URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/ceai1971290/s7.html

Northern Irish Legislation

CIVIL EVIDENCE ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1971 - SECT 7