1(1)For the purposes of any criminal proceedings a copy of, or of a material part of, a document, purporting to be authenticated in such manner and by such person as may be prescribed, shall unless the court otherwise directs, be—S
(a)deemed a true copy; and
(b)treated for evidential purposes as if it were the document, or the material part, itself,
whether or not the document is still in existence.
(2)For the purposes of this paragraph it is immaterial how many removes there are between a copy and the original.
(3)In this paragraph “copy” includes a transcript or reproduction.