301General evidentiary provisions

301 General evidentiary provisions S. 301(1) amended by No. 23/2019 s. 95(1). (1) If in any proceeding under this Act or the regulations or by-laws made under this Act the amount of water taken to, supplied to, delivered to, or used on, a property during any period is relevant, evidence of the amount of water recorded by a water meter as having passed through the meter to the property during that period is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that that amount of water was delivered to that property during that period. S. 301(2) substituted by No. 23/2019 s. 95(2). (2) Subsection (3) applies if, in any proceeding under this Act or the regulations or by-laws under this Act in which the amount of water taken to, supplied to, delivered to, or used on, a property is relevant and— (a) as a result of a water meter having malfunctioned or having been destroyed, damaged, altered or in any way interfered with, the Authority considers that the water meter did not accurately record the amount of water taken to, supplied to, delivered to, or used on the property; or (b) there is no accurately working meter on the property. S. 301(3) substituted by No. 23/2019 s. 95(2). (3) In any proceeding described in subsection (2), evidence may be given of the amount of water estimated by the Authority in accordance with section 142A and any relevant regulations, to have been taken to, supplied to or delivered to, or used on the property, during the relevant period and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the evidence is proof that that amount of water was taken to, supplied to, delivered to, or used on that property during that period. (4) A document purporting to contain a copy of any by-law, regulation, order or notice made or issued by an Authority (whether before or after the commencement of this subsection) and purporting to be signed by an authorised person is admissible in evidence in any proceeding under this Act or the regulations or by-laws made under this Act and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof that a by-law, regulation, order or notice in the words written in that document was duly made or issued by the Authority. (5) In any proceeding under this Act or the regulations or by-laws made under this Act the production of a copy of the Government Gazette purporting to contain a by-law, regulation, order or notice made or issued by an Authority (whether before or after the commencement of this subsection) is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that a by-law, regulation, order or notice in the words appearing in the Government Gazette was duly made or issued by the Authority. S. 301(6) amended by No. 69/2009 s. 54(Sch. Pt 1 item 62.2). (6) The provisions of subsection (5) are additional to and do not take away from the provisions of section 153 of the **Evidence Act 2008**. (7) A document purporting— (a) to be a map or plan made or issued by an Authority (whether before or after the commencement of this subsection); and (b) to show the location of any land or works or other thing or the physical features of any area; and (c) to be verified by an authorised person— is admissible in evidence in any proceeding under this Act or the regulations or by-laws made under this Act and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the matters shown in the map or plan. (8) In any proceeding under this Act or the regulations or by-laws made under this Act— (a) evidence that a person is subject to a fee imposed under a tariff set under this Act in respect of any land; or (b) evidence that a person's name appears in any records kept by an Authority as the owner or occupier of any land; or (c) evidence by the certificate of the Registrar of Titles or any Deputy Registrar of Titles or Assistant Registrar of Titles and authenticated by the seal of the Office of Titles that a person's name appears in the Register kept under the **Transfer of Land Act 1958** as the proprietor of an estate in fee simple or of a leasehold estate held of the Crown in any land; or (d) evidence by the certificate of the Registrar-General or any Deputy Registrar-General that a person appears from a memorial of registration of any deed, conveyance or other instrument to be the owner of any land— is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that that person is the owner or occupier (as the case requires) of that land. (9) In any proceeding for the recovery of a fee imposed under a tariff by an Authority, the entry in the rate records of a council or a copy of that entry verified by the statutory declaration of the person making it is admissible in evidence in the proceeding and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the ownership or occupation of the property rated by the person named in the entry or copy of the entry. (10) In any proceeding under this Act or the regulations or by-laws made under this Act, the statement of any person that on a particular date he or she was an officer of a corporation is admissible in evidence and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof that on that date he or she was an officer of that corporation. S. 301(11) inserted by No. 50/1992 s. 10(Sch. item 11.33), repealed by No. 49/1994 s. 4(1)(m).