Visiting Forces Act 1952

11Evidence for purposes of Part I

(1)For the purposes of this Part of this Act a certificate issued by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of a country, stating that at a time specified in the certificate a person so specified either was or was not a member of a visiting force of that country, shall in any proceedings in any United Kingdom court be sufficient evidence of the fact so stated unless the contrary is proved.

(2)For the purposes of this Part of this Act a certificate issued by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of a country, stating, as respects a person specified in the certificate,—

(a)that on a date so specified he was sentenced by a service court of that country to such punishment as is specified in the certificate, or

(b)that he is, or was at a time so specified, detained in custody in pursuance of a sentence passed upon him by a service court of that country or pending or during the trial by such a court of a charge brought against him, or

(c)that he has been tried, at a time and place specified in the certificate, by a service court of that country for a crime so specified,

shall in any proceedings in any United Kingdom court be conclusive evidence of the facts so stated.

(3)For the purposes of subsection (2) of section three of this Act a certificate issued by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of a country, stating in connection with any charge against a person of an offence against United Kingdom law, being a charge specified in the certificate, that his case can be dealt with under the law of that country, shall in any such proceedings as aforesaid be conclusive evidence of the fact so stated.

(4)Where a person is charged with an offence against United Kingdom law and at the time when the offence is alleged to have been committed he was a member of a visiting force or a member of a civilian component of such a force, a certificate issued by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of the sending country, stating that the alleged offence, if committed by him, arose out of and in the course of his duty as a member of that force or component, as the case may be, shall in any such proceedings as aforesaid be sufficient evidence of that fact unless the contrary is proved.