Section 79 of Evidence Act CAP 80: Distinction between public and private documents
(1) The following documents are public documents— (a) documents forming the acts or records of the acts— (i) of the sovereign authority; or
(ii) of official bodies and tribunals; or
(iii) of public officers, legislative, judicial or executive, whether of
Kenya or of any other country;
(b) public records kept in Kenya of private documents.
(2) All documents other than public documents are private.
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- Section 80 - Certified copies of public documents
(1) Every public officer having the custody of a public document which any person has a right to inspect shall give that person on demand a copy of it on payment of the legal fees therefor, together...
- Section 81 - Proof by certified copies
Certified copies of public documents may be produced in proof of the contents of the documents or parts of the documents of which they purport to be copies.
- Section 82 - Proof of certain public documents
Without prejudice to any other mode of proof, prima facie evidence of the following public documents may be given in the manner hereinafter shown, that is to say—
(a) deleted by L.N. 22/1965;...
- Section 83 - Certified documents
(1) The court shall presume to be genuine every document purporting to be a certificate, certified copy or other document which is—
(a) declared by law to be admissible as evidence of any particular...
- Section 84 - Records of evidence
Whenever any document is produced before any court, purporting to be a record or memorandum of any evidence given in a judicial proceeding or before any officer authorized by law to take such...
- Section 85 - Gazette, etc., to be prima facie evidence
The production of a copy of any written law, or of a copy of the Gazette containing any written law or any notice purporting to be made in pursuance of a written law, where such law or notice (as the...
- Section 86 - Gazettes, newspapers and documents produced from proper custody
(1) The court shall presume the genuineness of every document purporting to be—
(a) the London Gazette, the Edinburgh Gazette, or the official Gazette of any country in the Commonwealth;
(b) a...
- Section 87 - Publications generally
Where any publication or part thereof indicates or purports to indicate the name of any person by or on behalf or under the sponsorship of whom, or the place at which or date on which, such...
- Section 88 - Documents admissible in England
When any document is produced before any court, purporting to be a document which, by the law in force for the time being in England, would be admissible in proof of any particular in any Court of...
- Section 89 - Maps or plans
(1) The court shall presume that maps or plans purporting to be made or published by the authority of the Government, or any department of the Government, of any country in the Commonwealth were so...
- Section 90 - Law and judicial reports
The court shall presume the genuineness of every book purporting to be printed or published under the authority of the Government of any country and to contain any of the laws of that country, and of...
- Section 91 - Powers of attorney
The court shall presume that every document purporting to be a power of attorney, and to have been executed before and authenticated by a notary public or commissioner for oaths or any court, judge,...
- Section 92 - Certified copies of foreign judicial records
The court may presume that any document purporting to be a copy of a judgment or judicial record of any country not forming part of the Commonwealth is genuine and accurate, and that such judgment or...
- Section 93 - Books, maps and charts
The court may presume that any book, to which it may refer for information on matters of public or general interest, and that any published map or chart, the statements of which are admissible facts...
- Section 94 - Telegraphic messages
The court may presume that a message forwarded from a telegraph office to the person to whom such message purports to be addressed, corresponds with a message delivered for transmission at the office...
- Section 95 - Presumption as to due execution, etc.
The court shall presume that every document called for and not produced after notice to produce was attested, stamped and executed in the manner required by the law.
- Section 96 - Documents twenty years old
(1) Where any document purporting or proved to be not less than twenty years old is produced from any custody which the court in the particular case considers proper, the court may presume that the...
- Section 97 - Written contracts and grants
(1) When the terms of a contract, or of a grant, or of any other disposition of property, have been reduced to the form of a document, and in all cases in which any matter is required by law to be...
- Section 98 - Evidence of oral agreement
When the terms of any contract or grant or other disposition of property, or any matter required by law to be reduced to the form of a document, have been proved according to section 97 of this Act,...
- Section 99 - Evidence to explain a patent ambiguity
When the language used in a document is on the face of it ambiguous or defective, evidence may not be given of facts which would show its meaning or supply its defects.
- Section 100 - Evidence to show inapplicability
When language used in a document is plain, and it applies accurately to existing facts, evidence may not be given to show that it was not meant to apply to such facts.
- Section 101 - Evidence to explain a latent ambiguity
When language used in a document is plain, but is unmeaning in reference to existing facts, evidence may be given to show that it was used in a peculiar sense.
- Section 102 - Evidence of application to one of several subjects
When the facts are such that the language used in a document might have been meant to apply to any one, and could not have been meant to apply to more than one of several persons or things, evidence...
- Section 103 - Evidence of application to one of several sets of facts
When the language used in a document applies partly to one set of existing facts, and partly to another, but the whole of it does not apply correctly to either, evidence may be given to show to which...
- Section 104 - Evidence to explain special words
Evidence may be given to show the meaning of illegible or not commonly intelligible characters, of foreign, obsolete, technical, local and, provincial expressions, of abbreviations and of words used...
- Section 105 - Evidence of variation given by third parties
Persons who are not parties to a document, or their representatives in interest, may give evidence of any facts tending to show a contemporaneous agreement varying the terms of the document.
- Section 106 - Wills
Nothing in this Part shall affect the law relating to the interpretation and construction of wills or other testamentary dispositions.
- Section 106A - Section 106B to apply in proof of electronic records
The contents of electronic records may be proved in accordance with the provisions of section 106B.
- Section 106B - Admissibility of electronic records
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, any information contained in an electronic record which is printed on paper, stored, recorded or copied on optical or electro-magnetic media...
- Section 106C - Proof as to a electronic signature
Except in the case of a secure signature, if the electronic signature of any subscriber is alleged to have been affixed to an electronic record, then the fact that such an electronic signature is the...
- Section 106D - Proof as to the verification of electronic signature
In order to ascertain whether an electronic signature is that of a person by whom it purports to have been affixed, the court may direct—
(a) that person or the certification service provider to...
- Section 106E - Presumption as to Gazette in electronic form
A court shall take recognizance of every electronic record purporting to be the official Gazette, or purporting to be electronic record directed by any law to be kept by any person, if such electronic...
- Section 106F - Presumption as to electronic agreements
A court shall presume that every electronic record purporting to be an agreement containing the electronic signatures of the parties was concluded by affixing the digital signature of the parties.
- Section 106G - Presumption as to electronic records and electronic signatures
(1) In any proceedings involving a secure electronic record, the court shall presume, unless the contrary is proved, that the secure electronic record has not been altered since the specific point of...
- Section 106H - Presumption as to electronic signature certificates
A court shall presume, unless the contrary is proved, that the information listed in an electronic signature certificate is correct, except for information, which has not been verified, if the...
- Section 106I - Presumption as to electronic messages
A court may presume that an electronic message forwarded by the originator through an electronic mail server to the addressee to whom the message purports to be addressed corresponds with the message...
- Section 107 - Burden of proof
(1) Whoever desires any court to give judgment as to any legal right or liability dependent on the existence of facts which he asserts must prove that those facts exist.
(2) When a person is bound...
- Section 108 - Incidence of burden
The burden of proof in a suit or proceeding lies on that person who would fail if no evidence at all were given on either side.
- Section 109 - Proof of particular fact
The burden of proof as to any particular fact lies on the person who wishes the court to believe in its existence, unless it is provided by any law that the proof of that fact shall lie on any...
- Section 110 - Proof of admissibility
The burden of proving any fact necessary to be proved in order to enable any person to give evidence of any other fact is on the person who wishes to give such evidence.
- Section 111 - Burden on accused in certain cases
(1) When a person is accused of any offence, the burden of proving the existence of circumstances bringing the case within any exception or exemption from, or qualification to, the operation of the...
- Section 112 - Proof of special knowledge in civil proceedings
In civil proceedings, when any fact is especially within the knowledge of any party to those proceedings, the burden of proving or disproving that fact is upon him.
- Section 113 - 113. Repealed by Act No. 14 of 1972, Ninth Sch.
113. Repealed by Act No. 14 of 1972, Ninth Sch.
- Section 114 - 114. Repealed by Act No. 14 of 1972, Ninth Sch.
114. Repealed by Act No. 14 of 1972, Ninth Sch.
- Section 115 - Disproving apparent special relationship
When the question is whether persons are partners, landlord and tenant, or principal and agent, and it has been shown that they have been acting as such, the burden of proving that they do not stand,...
- Section 116 - Disproving ownership
When the question is whether any person is owner of anything of which he is shown to be in possession, the burden of proving that he is not the owner is on the person who affirms that he is not the...
- Section 117 - Proof of good faith
Where there is a question as to the good faith of a transaction between parties, one of whom stands to the other in a position of active confidence, the burden of proving the good faith of the...
- Section 118 - Conclusive proof of legitimacy
The fact that any person was born during the continuance of a valid marriage between his mother and any man, or within two hundred and eighty days after its dissolution, the mother remaining...
- Section 118A - Presumption of death
Where it is proved that a person has not been heard of for seven years by those who might be expected to have heard of him if he were alive, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that he is dead.
- Section 119 - Presumption of likely facts
The court may presume the existence of any fact which it thinks likely to have happened, regard being had to the common course of natural events, human conduct and public and private business, in...