Section 46B — Road Traffic Act 1988: Evidence from records of vehicle examinations.

Evidence from records of vehicle examinations. 46B 1 A statement to which this section applies is admissible in any proceedings as evidence (or, in Scotland, sufficient evidence) of any fact stated in it with respect to—

a the issue of a test certificate in respect of a vehicle, and b the date of issue of such a certificate, to the same extent as oral evidence of that fact is admissible in the proceedings.

2 This section applies to a statement contained in a document purporting to be—

a a part of the records maintained under section 45(6B) of this Act, b a copy of a document forming part of those records, or c a note of any information contained in those records, and to be authenticated by a person authorised to do so by the Secretary of State.

3 In this section as it has effect in England and Wales— “ document ” means anything in which information of any description is recorded; “ copy ”, in relation to a document, means anything onto which information recorded in the document has been copied, by whatever means and whether directly or indirectly; and “ statement ” means any representation of fact, however made.

4 In this section as it has effect in Scotland, “ document ” and “ statement ” have the same meanings as in section 17(3) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1968, and the reference to a copy of a document shall be construed in accordance with section 17(4) of that Act.

5 Nothing in subsection (4) above limits to civil proceedings the reference to proceedings in subsection (1) above.