Evidence Act 1950 · Updated to 1 Nov 2017 · Chapter V
66. Rules as to notice to produce
Feedback & supportSecondary evidence of the contents of the documents referred to in paragraph 65(1)(a) shall not be given unless the party proposing to give such secondary evidence has previously given to the party in whose possession or power the document is, or to his advocate, such notice to produce it as is prescribed by law;
evidence
“evidence” includes— (a) all statements which the court permits or requires to be made before it by witnesses in relation to matters of fact under inquiry: such statements are called oral evidence; (b) all documents produced for the inspection of the court: such documents are called documentary evidence;
and if no notice is prescribed by law, then such notice as the court considers reasonable under the circumstances of the case:
court
“court” means a court established by or under Part IX of the Federal Constitution and includes— (a) a Judge; (b) a Sessions Court Judge; (c) a Magistrate; and (d) except an arbitrator, every person legally authorized to take evidence;
Provided that such notice shall not be required in order to render secondary evidence admissible in any of the following cases or in any other case in which the court thinks fit to dispense with it:
when the document to be proved is itself a notice;
document
“document” means any matter expressed, described, or howsoever represented, upon any substance, material, thing or article, including any matter embodied in a disc, tape, film, sound-track or other device whatsoever, by means of— (a) letters, figures, marks, symbols, signals, signs, or other forms of expression, description, or representation whatsoever; (b) any visual recording (whether of still or moving images); (c) any sound recording, or any electronic, magnetic, mechanical or other recording whatsoever and howsoever made, or any sounds, electronic impulses, or other data whatsoever; (d) a recording, or transmission, over a distance of any matter by any, or any combination, of the means mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), or by more than one of the means mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d), intended to be used or which may be used for the purpose of expressing, describing, or howsoever representing, that matter; A writing is a document. Words printed, lithographed or photographed are documents. A map, plan, graph or sketch is a document. Evidence 15 An inscription on wood, metal, stone or any other substance, material or thing is a document. A drawing, painting, picture or caricature is a document. A photograph or a negative is a document. A tape recording of a telephonic communication, including a recording of such communication transmitted over distance, is a document. A photographic or other visual recording, including a recording of a photographic or other visual transmission over a distance, is a document. A matter recorded, stored, processed, retrieved or produced by a computer is a document;
when from the nature of the case the adverse party must know that he will be required to produce it;
when it appears or is proved that the adverse party has obtained possession of the original by fraud or force;
Evidence 55
when the adverse party or his agent has the original in court;
when the adverse party or his agent has admitted the loss of the document; or
when the person in possession of the document is out of reach of or not subject to the process of the court.