Section 181C: Admissibility of certain records in civil proceedings

181C. Admissibility of certain records in civil proceedings (1) A statement contained in a document shall, subject to section 181E, to subsection (2) and to Rules of Court, be admissible in any civil proceedings as evidence of any fact or opinion stated therein of which direct oral evidence would be admissible, where the document is, or forms part of, a record compiled, by a person acting under a duty, from information which— (a) was supplied by a person who had, or may reasonably be supposed to have had, personal knowledge of the matters dealt with in that information; or (b) in case the information was not supplied directly by the person referred to in paragraph (a) to the compiler of the record, was supplied by him to the compiler of the record indirectly through one or more intermediaries each acting under a duty. (2) Where a party wishing to put in a statement under subsection (1) has called, or intends to call, as a witness in the proceedings the person who originally supplied the information from which the record containing the statement was compiled, the statement shall not be given in evidence— (a) without leave of the Court; and C54 – 45 [Issue 4] Courts Act (b) before the conclusion of the examination-in-chief of the person who originally supplied the information. (3) For the purposes of subsection (1), “person acting under a duty” includes a person acting in the course of any trade, business, profession or other occupation in which he is engaged or employed or for the purposes of any paid or unpaid office held by him. [S. 181C inserted by Act 18 of 1998 but incorrectly numbered 181B; amended by s. 11 (1) (c) of Act 39 of 2011 w.e.f. 1 June 2012.]