Canadian Criminal Evidence/Documentary Evidence/Public and Judicial Documents

Legislation and Regulations
Under s. 19, 20, 21, and 22 of the Canada Evidence Act, Acts of Parliament and provincial legislation is admissible without proof. There is no need for certification, and all copies are deemed admissible unless proven otherwise.

Official Government Documents
Section 24 states:

Certificates of provincial incorporation can be admitted under s. 24 and 37 of the CEA.

Aeronautical charts produced by the Government of Canada are admissible without notice due to their inherent reliabillity.

Publicly Accessible Documents under the CEA
Section 25 concerns the admissibility of documents of a "public nature":

This typically would include books available in a library, newspapers, website printouts, brochures, and other documents that are readily accessible in public.

Public Documents at Common Law
A document is admissible at common law as a public document where the following criteria are satisfied:
 * 1) the document must have been made by a public official, that is a person on whom a duty has been imposed by the public,
 * 2) the public official must have made the document in the discharge of a public duty or function,
 * 3) the document must have been made with the intention that it serve as a permanent record, and
 * 4) the document must be available for public inspection.

A Pre-sentence report may be considered a public document at common law.

Judicial Proceedings
Under s. 23, records of judicial proceedings may be entered in as evidence:

Court Orders and Documents
An information and probation order that were not made under seal or signed by a judge of the court (thus not admissible under s. 23 of the CEA) are admissible as a public document defined in s. 24(a) under the common law. To be admissible it must:
 * 1) be made by a public official upon whom a public duty had been imposed
 * 2) made by the public official in the discharge of a public duty or function
 * 3) intended to serve as a permanent record;
 * 4) were available for public inspection.

In proving probation order, an original certified copy of the order may be submitted as an exhibit without notice at the common law. . This likewise is the case in proving an order of disqualification from driving.

Notice
All documents and records, whether private or public, are addressed under s. 28 of the Canada Evidence Act:

While government records are admissible under s. 24, s. 28 still requires that there be at least 7 days notice for their admission. Late notice to produce documents however is not necessarily fatal.

Notice must be given to the accused of intention to admit the recognizance under s. 23, 28. Notice must include information on the offence specified, location of the offence, and accused person.

Exemplification of Court Documents
At common law, court documents, including court orders, are admissible without notice where the court document is an original or a photocopy under seal. This has been considered available under the hearsay exception for public documents and judicial proceedings. However, it has been said that the court still retains the discretion to exclude these documents where the defence is prejudiced by the lack of notice.

Exemplifications are photocopies of official court documents that have the official seal of the court. It cannot apply to any non-court generated document attached to the court file. Section 28 has no application to exemplified document.

A regular copy of the document is all that is necessary to serve to comply with s.28 of the CEA. There is no requirement that the copy be certified.

Police Documents
Notice of Intention to produce a certificates of analysis require notice. Where it is a certificate for a breathalizer test, section 258(7) applies:

This requires that the crown prove that service was made, that it was made in a reasonable time, and that the notice communicated the intention to produce the materials at trial.

Where notice to produce a certificate of analysis is served upon an accused person, there is a rebuttable presumption that the person understand the notice.