Apothecaries Certificates admissable be a Proclamation, Treaty, or other Act of State, the authenticated Copy to be admissible in Evidence must purport to be sealed with the Seal of the Foreign State or British Colony to which the original Document belongs; and if the Document sought to be proved be a Judgment, Decree, Order, or other judicial Proceeding of any Foreign or Colonial Court, or an Affidavit, Pleading, or other legal Document filed or deposited in any such Court, the authenticated Copy to be admissible in Evidence must purport either to be sealed with the Seal of the Foreign or Colonial Court to which the original Document belongs, or, in the event of such Court having no Seal, to be signed by the Judge, or, if there be more than One Judge, by any One of the Judges of the said Court, and such Judge shall attach to his Signature a Statement in Writing on the said Copy that the Court whereof he is a Judge has no Seal; but if any of the aforesaid authenticated Copies shall purport to be sealed or signed as herein-before respectively directed, the same shall respectively be admitted in Evidence in every Case in which the original Document could have been received in Evidence, without any Proof of the Seal where a Seal is necessary, or of the Signature, or of the Truth of the Statement attached thereto, where such Signature and Statement are necessary, or of the judicial Character of the Person appearing to have made such Signature and Statement. VIII. Every Certificate of the Qualification of an Apothecary which shall purport to be under the Common Seal of the Society of the Art and Mystery of Apothecaries of the City of London without Proof shall be received in Evidence in any Court of Justice, and before any Person having by Law or by Consent of Parties Authority to hear, receive, and examine Evidence, without any Proof of the said Seal or of the Authenticity of the said Certificate, and shall be deemed sufficient Proof that the Person named therein has been from the Date of the said Certificate duly qualified to practise as an Apothecary in any Part of England or Wales. İx. Every Document which by any Law now in force or hereafter to be in force is or shall be admissible in Evidence of any Particular in any Court of Justice in England or Wales without Proof of the Seal or Stamp or Signature authenticating the same, or of the judicial or official Character of the Person appearing to have signed the same, shall be admitted in Evidence to the same Extent and for the same Purposes in any Court of Justice in Ireland, or before any Person having in Ireland by Law or by Consent of Parties Authority to hear, receive, and examine Evidence, without Proof of the Seal or Stamp or Signature authenticating the same, or of the judicial or official Character of the Person appearing to have signed the same. Documents admissible without Proof of Seal, &c. in England or Wales equally admissible in Ireland. Documents admissable without Proof of Seal, &c. in Ireland equally admissible in X. Every Document which by any Law now in force or hereafter to be in force is or shall be admissible in Evidence of any Particular in any Court of Justice in Ireland without Proof of the Seal or Stamp or Signature authenticating the same, or of the judicial or official Character of the Person appearing to have have signed the same, shall be admitted in Evidence to the same England and Extent and for the same Purposes in any Court of Justice in Wales. England or Wales, or before any Person having in England or Wales by Law or by Consent of Parties Authority to hear, receive, and examine Evidence, without Proof of the Seal or Stamp or Signature authenticating the same, or of the judicial or official Character of the Person appearing to have signed the same. XI. Every Document which by any Law now in force or Documents hereafter to be in force is or shall be admissible in Evidence admissible without Proof of any Particular in any Court of Justice in England or Wales or of Seal, &c. in Ireland without Proof of the Seal/or Stamp or Signature authen- England, ticating the same, or of the judicial or official Character of the Wales, or Ireland equally Person appearing to have signed the same, shall be admitted admissible in in Evidence to the same Extent and for the same Purposes in the Colonies. any Court of Justice of any of the British Colonies, or before any Person having in any of such Colonies by Law or by Consent of Parties Authority to hear, receive, and examine Evidence, without Proof of the Seal or Stamp or Signature authenticating the same, or of the judicial or official Character of the Person appearing to have signed the same. British Vessels Evidence of &c. XII. Every Register of a Vessel kept under any of the Acts Registers of relating to the Registry of British Vessels may be proved in any and Certificates Court of Justice, or before any Person having by Law or by of Registry Consent of Parties Authority to hear, receive, and examine admissible as Evidence, either by the Production of the Original or by an primâ facie examined Copy thereof, or by a Copy thereof purporting to be their Contents, certified under the Hand of the Person having the Charge of without Proof the Original, and which Person is hereby required to furnish of Signature, such certified Copy to any Person applying at a reasonable Time for the same, upon Payment of the Sum of One Shilling; and every such Register or such Copy of a Register, and also every Certificate of Registry, granted under any of the Acts relating to the Registry of British Vessels, and purporting to be signed as required by Law, shall be received in Evidence in any Court of Justice, or before any Person having by Law or by Consent of Parties Authority to hear, receive, and examine Evidence, as primâ facie Proof of all the Matters contained or recited in such Register when the Register or such Copy thereof as aforesaid is produced, and of all the Matters contained or recited in or endorsed on such Certificate of Registry when the said Certificate is produced./ Conviction or XIII. And whereas it is expedient, as far as possible, to Where necesreduce the Expense attendant upon the Proof of criminal Pro- sary to prove ceedings:' Be it enacted, That whenever in any Proceeding Acquittal of whatever it may be necessary to prove the Trial and Conviction Person charged, or Acquittal of any Person charged with any indictable Offence, not necessary to it shall not be necessary to produce the Record of the Convic- cord, but may tion or Acquittal of such Person, or a Copy thereof, but it shall be certified be sufficient that it be certified or purport to be certified under under Hand of the Hand of the Clerk of the Court or other Officer having the Custody produce Re Clerk of Court. Examined or of Documents admissible in Evidence. 14 & 15 VICT. Custody of the Records of the Court where such Conviction or Acquittal took place, or by the Deputy of such Clerk or other Officer, that the Paper produced is a Copy of the Record of the Indictment, Trial, Conviction, and Judgment or Acquittal, as the Case may be, omitting the formal Parts thereof. XIV. Whenever any Book or other Document is of such a certified Copies public Nature as to be admissible in Evidence on its mere Production from the proper Custody, and no Statute exists which renders its Contents provable by means of a Copy, any Copy thereof or Extract therefrom shall be admissible in Evidence in any Court of Justice, or before any Person now or hereafter having by Law or by Consent of Parties Authority to hear, receive, and examine Evidence, provided it be proved to be an examined Copy or Extract, or provided it purport to be signed and certified as a true Copy or Extract by the Officer to whose Custody the Original is intrusted, and which Officer is hereby required to furnish such certified Copy or Extract to any Person applying at a reasonable Time for the same, upon Payment of a reasonable Sum for the same, not exceeding Fourpence for every Folio of Ninety Words. Certifying a a Misdemeanor. XV. If any Officer authorized or required by this Act to false Document furnish any certified Copies or Extracts shall wilfully certify any Document as being a true Copy or Extract, knowing that the same is not a true Copy or Extract, as the Case may be, he shall be guilty of a Misdemeanor, and be liable, upon Conviction, to Imprisonment for any Term not exceeding Eighteen Months. Court, &c. may administer Oaths. Persons forging XVI. Every Court, Judge, Justice, Officer, Commissioner, Arbitrator, or other Person, now or hereafter having by Law or by Consent of Parties Authority to hear, receive, and examine Evidence, is hereby empowered to administer an Oath to all such Witnesses as are legally called before them respectively. XVII. If any Person shall forge the Seal, Stamp, or Signa ture of any Document in this Act mentioned or referred to, or shall tender in Evidence any such Document with a false or counterfeit Seal, Stamp, or Signature thereto, knowing the same to be false or counterfeit, he shall be guilty of Felony, and shall upon Conviction be liable to Transportation for Seven Years, or to Imprisonment for any Term not exceeding Three Years nor less than One Year, with Hard Labour; and whenever any such Document shall have been admitted in Evidence by virtue of this Act, the Court or the Person who shall have admitted the same may, at the Request of any Party against whom the same is so admitted in Evidence, direct that the same shall be impounded and be kept in the Custody of some Officer of the Court or other proper Person for such Period and subject to such Conditions as to the said Court or Person shall seem meet; and every Person who shall be charged with committing any Felony under this Act, or under the Act of the Eighth and Ninth Years of Her present Majesty, Chapter One hundred and thirteen, may be dealt with, indicted, tried, and, if convicted, sentenced,. sentenced, and his Offence may be laid and charged to have been Not to extend to Scotland. Interpretation of" British XX. This Act shall come into operation on the First Day of CommenceNovember in the present Year. ment of Act. CAP. C. An Act for further improving the Administration of WHEREAS Offenders frequently escape Conviction on their Trials by reason of the technical Strictness of Cri⚫minal Proceedings in Matters not material to the Merits of the Case And whereas such technical Strictness may safely be relaxed in many Instances, so as to ensure the Punishment ⚫ of the Guilty, without depriving the Accused of any just Means of Defence: And whereas a Failure of Justice often takes place on the Trial of Persons charged with Felony and Misdemeanor by reason of Variances between the Statement in the Indictment on which the Trial is had and the Proof of Names, Dates, Matters, and Circumstances therein mentioned, not material to the Merits of the Case, and by the Mis statement whereof the Person on Trial cannot have been prejudiced in his Defence:' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows: Variances not which the De I. From and after the coming of this Act into operation, The Court may whenever on the Trial of any Indictment for any Felony or amend certain Misdemeanor there shall appear to be any Variance between the material to the Statement in such Indictment and the Evidence offered in Proof Merits of the thereof, in the Name of any County, Riding, Division, City, Case, and by Borough, Town Corporate, Parish, Township, or Place men- fendant cannot tioned or described in any such Indictment, or in the Name or be prejudiced Description of any Person or Persons, or Body Politic or Cor- in his Defence, and may either porate, therein stated or alleged to be the Owner or Owners of proceed with or any Property, Real or Personal, which shall form the Subject of any Offence charged therein, or in the Name or Description of any Person or Persons, Body Politic or Corporate, therein stated postpone the Trial to be had before the same or another Jury. Verdicts and Judgments valid after Amendments. stated or alleged to be injured or damaged or intended to be injured or damaged by the Commission of such Offence, or in the Christian Name or Surname, or both Christian Name and Surname, or other Description whatsoever, of any Person or Persons whomsoever therein named or described, or in the Name or Description of any Matter or Thing whatsoever therein named or described, or in the Ownership of any Property named or described therein, it shall and may be lawful for the Court before which the Trial shall be had, if it shall consider such Variance not material to the Merits of the Case, and that the Defendant cannot be prejudiced thereby in his Defence on such Merits, to order such Indictment to be amended, according to the Proof, by some Officer of the Court or other Person, both in that Part of the Indictment where such Variance occurs and in every other Part of the Indictment which it may become necessary to amend, on such Terms as to postponing the Trial to be had before the same or another Jury, as such Court shall think reasonable; and after any such Amendment the Trial shall proceed, whenever the same shall be proceeded with, in the same Manner in all respects, and with the same Consequences, both with respect to the Liability of Witnesses to be indicted for Perjury and otherwise, as if no such Variance had occurred; and in case such Trial shall be had at Nisi Prius the Order for the Amendment shall be endorsed on the Postea, and returned together with the Record, and thereupon such Papers, Rolls, or other Records of the Court from which such Record issued as it may be necessary to amend shall be amended accordingly by the proper Officer, and in all other Cases the Order for the Amendment shall either be endorsed on the Indictment or shall be engrossed on Parchment, and filed, together with the Indictment, among the Records of the Court: Provided that in all such Cases where the Trial shall be so postponed as aforesaid it shall be lawful for such Court to respite the Recognizances of the Prosecutor and Witnesses, and of the Defendant, and his Surety or Sureties, if any, accordingly, in which Case the Prosecutor and Witnesses shall be bound to attend to prosecute and give Evidence respectively, and the Defendant shall be bound to attend to be tried, at the Time and Place to which such Trial shall be postponed, without entering into any fresh Recognizances for that Purpose, in such and the same Manner as if they were originally bound by their Recognizances to appear and prosecute or give Evidence at the Time and Place to which such Trial shall have been so postponed: Provided also, that where any such Trial shall be to be had before another Jury the Crown and the Defendant shall respectively be entitled to the same Challenges as they were respectively entitled to before the First Jury was sworn. II. Every Verdict and Judgment which shall be given after the making of any Amendment under the Provisions of this Act shall be of the same Force and Effect in all respects as if the Indictment had originally been in the same Form in which it was after such Amendment was made. III. If |