28 U.S.C. § 1741 — Foreign official documents

Page 454 TITLE 28—JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE § 1740 Words ‘‘and its Territories and Possessions’’ were added after ‘‘United States’’, near the end of the sec- tion, in view of provisions of section 688 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., for the admission of records and books in any court or office in any other State, Territory, or ‘‘in any such country.’’ (Changed to ‘‘Possession’’ in this section.) See also Rule 44 of the Federal Rules of Civil Proce- dure. Changes were made in phraseology. § 1740. Copies of consular papers Copies of all official documents and papers in the office of any consul or vice consul of the United States, and of all official entries in the books or records of any such office, authenti- cated by the consul or vice consul, shall be ad- missible equally with the originals. (June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 947.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 677 (R.S. § 896; Apr. 5, 1906, ch. 1366, § 3, 34 Stat. 100). Words ‘‘authenticated by the consul or vice consul’’ were substituted for ‘‘certified under the hand and seal of such officer’’, for clarity. Words ‘‘in the courts of the United States’’, were omitted after ‘‘admissible’’. Such papers should be so admitted in all courts consistently with sections 1738 and 1739 of this title. See also Rule 44 of the Federal Rules of Civil Proce- dure. Changes were made in phraseology. § 1741. Foreign official documents An official record or document of a foreign country may be evidenced by a copy, summary, or excerpt authenticated as provided in the Fed- eral Rules of Civil Procedure. (June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 948; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 92(b), 63 Stat. 103; Pub. L. 88–619, § 5(a), Oct. 3, 1964, 78 Stat. 996.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES 1948 ACT Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 695e (June 20, 1936, ch. 640, § 6, 49 Stat. 1563). Words ‘‘Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to alter, amend, or repeal section 689 of this title,’’ at the end of section 695e of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., were omitted. Although significant in the original Act, such words are unnecessary in a revision wherein both sections in question, as revised, are enacted at the same time. See also Rule 44 of the Federal Rules of Civil Proce- dure. Section 695e–1 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., providing for certification of Vatican City Documents will be in- corporated in title 22, U.S.C., Foreign Relations and Intercourse. Changes were made in phraseology. 1949 ACT This section corrects a typographical error in section 1741 of title 28, U.S.C. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1964—Pub. L. 88–619 substituted ‘‘An official record or document of a foreign country may be evidenced by a copy, summary, or excerpt authenticated as provided in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure’’ for ‘‘A copy of any foreign document of record or on file in a public of- fice of a foreign country or political subdivision there- of, certified by the lawful custodian thereof, shall be admissible in evidence when authenticated by a certifi- cate of a consular officer of the United States resident in such foreign country, under the seal of his office, that the copy has been certified by the lawful custo- dian’’ in text, and ‘‘official documents’’ for ‘‘docu- ments, generally; copies’’ in section catchline. 1949—Act May 24, 1949, corrected spelling of ‘‘admis- sible’’. [§ 1742. Repealed. Pub. L. 88–619, § 6(a), Oct. 3, 1964, 78 Stat. 996] Section, act June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 948, related to authentication and certification of copies of docu- ments relating to land titles, by persons having cus- tody of such of any foreign government or its agents, certification by an American minister or consul that they be true copies of the originals, the recording of such copies in the office of the General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury, and to the evidentiary value of such copies. § 1743. Demand on postmaster The certificate of the Postmaster General or the Government Accountability Office of the mailing to a postmaster of a statement of his account and that payment of the balance stated has not been received shall be sufficient evi- dence of a demand notwithstanding any allow- ances or credits subsequently made. A copy of such statement shall be attached to the certifi- cate. (June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 948; Pub. L. 108–271, § 8(b), July 7, 2004, 118 Stat. 814.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 670 (R.S. § 890; June 10, 1921, ch. 18, § 301, 42 Stat. 23). Provisions in section 670 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., that the statement should recite that a letter has been mailed to a described post office and sufficient time has elapsed for it to have reached its destination, was omit- ted as superfluous. The last clause of section 670 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., was omitted as covered by the phrase ‘‘notwith- standing any allowances or credits subsequently made’’ in the revised section. Changes were made in phraseology. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2004—Pub. L. 108–271 substituted ‘‘Government Ac- countability Office’’ for ‘‘General Accounting Office’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS The office of Postmaster General of the Post Office Department was abolished and all functions, powers, and duties of the Postmaster General were transferred to the United States Postal Service by Pub. L. 91–375, § 4(a), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 773, set out as a note under section 201 of Title 39, Postal Service. § 1744. Copies of United States Patent and Trade- mark Office documents, generally Copies of letters patent or of any records, books, papers, or drawings belonging to the United States Patent and Trademark Office and relating to patents, authenticated under the seal of the United States Patent and Trademark Office and certified by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Direc-