certified copy

A certified copy of a document is a true copy of a document which has been certified as such by a suitably qualified officer. Prior to certifying the copy as a true copy of the original, the original must be entrusted to the officer.

Certified copies of original documents may be adduced into evidence without further examination upon the credit of the officer in question. The details of the officer (name, address, and capacity to certify) are stamped and/or ascribed to the certified copy to prove authenticity.

Certification extends only to the fact that the copy is a true copy of the original. It does not extend to the legal effect or result of the document in question. Certifications of parts of documents, rather than the whole are inadmissible to a court, as it cannot be said that the document is a true copy of the original.

Usage: Solicitors are suitably qualified persons to make a certified copy of an original document.

Related Words: affidavit; witness statement; statutory declaration; oral evidence; secondary evidence; .