The Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986 (Designated Countries and Territories) Order 1990

Evidence in relation to proceedings and orders in a designated country

5.—(1) For the purposes of sections 26 and 26A of the Act, and of the other provisions of the Act as applied under article 3(2) of this Order, a certificate purporting to be issued by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of a designated country stating —

(a) that proceedings have been instituted and have not been concluded, or that proceedings are to be instituted, there;

(b) that an external confiscation order is in force and is not subject to appeal;

(c) that all or a certain amount of the sum payable under an external confiscation order remains unpaid in the designated country, or that other property recoverable under an external confiscation order remains unrecovered there;

(d) that any person has been notified of any proceedings in accordance with the law of the designated country; or

(e) that an order (however described) made by a court of the designated country has the purpose of recovering payments or other rewards received in connection with drug trafficking or their value,

shall, in any proceedings in the High Court, be admissible as evidence of the facts so stated.

(2) In any such proceedings a statement contained in a document, duly authenticated, which purports to have been received in evidence or to be a copy of a document so received, or to set out or summarise evidence given in proceedings in a court in a designated country, shall be admissible as evidence of any fact stated therein.

(3) A document is duly authenticated for the purposes of paragraph (2) above if it purports to be certified by any person in his capacity as a judge, magistrate or officer of the court in the designated country, or by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of the designated country, to have been received in evidence or to be a copy of a document so received, or, as the case may be, to be the original document containing or summarising the evidence or a true copy of that document.

(4) Nothing in this article shall prejudice the admission of any evidence, whether contained in any document or otherwise, which is admissible apart from this article.