Article 13 Admissibility of documents
Subject to paragraph (2) of this Rule, a statement contained in—
a document which purports to set out or summarise evidence given in proceedings in a court in another part of the United Kingdom or another Contracting State;
a document which purports to have been received in evidence in proceedings in a court in another part of the United Kingdom or another Contracting State;
a document which purports to set out or summarise evidence taken in another part of the United Kingdom or in another Contracting State for the purpose of proceedings in a court in England and Wales under the 1982 Act, whether in response to a request made by such a court or otherwise; or
a document which purports to record information relating to the payments made under an order of a court in another part of the United Kingdom or another Contracting State
shall, in any proceedings in a magistrates' court in England and Wales relating to a maintenance order to which the 1982 Act applies, be admissible as evidence of any fact stated therein to the same extent as oral evidence of that fact is admissible in those proceedings.
Paragraph (1) of this Rule shall not apply unless the document concerned has been made or authenticated by the court in the other part of the United Kingdom or the other Contracting State, as the case may be, or by a judge or official of that court, in accordance with paragraph (3), (4) or (5) of this Rule.
A document purporting to set out or summarise evidence given as mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) above, or taken as mentioned in paragraph (1)(c) above, shall be deemed to be authenticated for the purposes of that paragraph if the document purports to be certified by the judge or official before whom the evidence was given or by whom it was taken, or to be the original document containing or recording or, as the case may be, summarising, the evidence or a true copy of that document.
A document purporting to have been received in evidence as mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) above, or to be a copy of a document so received, shall be deemed to be authenticated for the purposes of that paragraph if the document purports to be certified by a judge or official of the court in question to be, or to be a true copy of, a document which has been so received.
A document purporting to record information as mentioned in paragraph (1)(d) above shall be deemed to be authenticated for the purposes of that paragraph if the document purports to be certified by a judge or official of the court in question to be a true record of the payments made under the order concerned.
It shall not be necessary in any proceedings in which evidence is to be received under this Rule to prove the signature or official position of the person appearing to have given such a certificate.
Nothing in this Rule shall prejudice the admission in evidence of any document which is admissible in evidence apart from this Rule.
Any request by a magistrates' court in England and Wales for the taking or providing of evidence by a court in another part of the United Kingdom or another Contracting State for the purpose of proceedings under the 1982 Act shall be communicated in writing to the court in question.