[F1286AProof of previous conviction by court in other member StateS

(1)A previous conviction by a court in [F2a] member State of the European Union may be proved against any person in any criminal proceedings by the production of evidence of the conviction and by showing that his fingerprints and those of the person convicted are the fingerprints of the same person.

(2)A certificate—

(a)bearing—

(i)to have been sealed with the official seal of a Minister of the State in question; and

(ii)to contain particulars relating to a conviction extracted from the criminal records of that State; and

(b)including copies of fingerprints and certifying that those copies—

(i)are of fingerprints appearing from those records to have been taken from the person convicted on the occasion of the conviction, or on the occasion of his last conviction; and

(ii)would be admissible in evidence in criminal proceedings in that State as a record of the skin of that person’s fingers,

shall be sufficient evidence of the conviction or, as the case may be, of the person’s last conviction and of all preceding convictions and that the copies of the fingerprints included in the certificate are copies of the fingerprints of the person convicted.

(3)A conviction bearing to have been—

(a)extracted from the criminal records of the State in question; and

(b)issued by an officer of that State whose duties include the issuing of such extracts,

shall be received in evidence without being sworn to by witnesses.

(4)Subsection (9) of section 285 of this Act applies in relation to this section as it does in relation to that section.]