In any prosecution or other legal proceeding under this Act or any other Act instituted by or under the direction or on behalf or for the benefit of the council, proof is not, until evidence is given to the contrary, to be required of any of the following:• the incorporation of the council• the persons comprising the governing body of the council• the election or appointment of the mayor or any other councillor• the extent or boundaries of the area or of any ward• the fact that any particular place is within the area or within a ward• the appointment of the general manager or of any other employee of the council• any order to prosecute or the authority of the general manager or any employee of the council to prosecute• the presence of a quorum of the council at the passing of any resolution or the making of any decision or determination or the doing of any act• the fact that the defendant is or at any relevant time was the owner or occupier of any land in question• the fact that the defendant is or at any relevant time was the owner or in possession, control or charge of any animal or thing in question.
698 Judicial notice of certain documents
(1) Judicial notice is to be taken of any document purporting to be issued or written by or under the direction of the council and purporting to be signed by the mayor, the general manager or the public officer.(2) Judicial notice is to be taken of every notice made or given under this Act:(a) that has been published in the Gazette, or(b) that has been published in a newspaper, or(c) a copy of which has been certified by the mayor, general manager or the public officer as a true copy,and of the date on which the notice was made or given.(3) It is to be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that any such notice has been duly made or given.(4) A copy of any such notice is to be delivered to any person who demands a copy on payment to the council of the approved fee.
If any employee of the council or other person:(a) serves any notice required to be given by the council in the manner directed by or under this Act, and(b) endorses on or annexes to a true copy of the notice a statutory declaration stating the place, the time and the manner in which it has been served,the statutory declaration purporting to have been so made is, until the contrary is proved, evidence of the service of the notice.
700 Proof of ownership of, or leasehold estate in, land
(1) In any legal proceedings under this Act, in addition to any other method of proof available:(a) evidence that the person proceeded against is rated in respect of any land to any rate under this Act is, until the contrary is proved, evidence that the person is the owner or lessee of the land, or(b) a certificate furnished by the Registrar-General under subsection (2) with respect to any land is, until the contrary is proved, evidence:at the time or during the period specified in the certificate pursuant to subsection (3) (b) (i) or (ii).(i) that the person described in the certificate as the proprietor or owner of the land was the owner of that land, and(ii) that the person, if any, so described as the lessee of the land was the lessee of that land,(2) If:(a) written application with respect to any land is made to the Registrar-General under this subsection by the general manager of a council, and(b) the Registrar-General has been paid the prescribed fee,the Registrar-General is to furnish to the council a certificate setting out such of the particulars specified in subsection (3) as are recorded in the Register kept under the Real Property Act 1900 or in the General Register of Deeds maintained under Division 1 of Part 23 of the Conveyancing Act 1919 and as the Registrar-General is able to ascertain from the information about the land furnished in the application.(3) The particulars are:(a) the situation and a description of the land, and(b) in the case of:(i) land subject to the provisions of the Real Property Act 1900—the names and addresses of the person registered under that Act as the proprietor of, and any person so registered as a lessee of, the land at the time or during the period in respect of which the application is made and the date of registration of the instruments under which they became so registered, or(ii) land not subject to those provisions—the names and addresses of the owner and of any lessee of the land at the time or during the period in respect of which the application is made and the dates, and dates of registration under Division 1 of Part 23 of the Conveyancing Act 1919, of the instruments kept in the General Register of Deeds maintained under that Division under which the owner or lessee became the owner or lessee of the land.(4) Judicial notice is to be taken for the purposes of this Act of the signature of the Registrar-General and of a Deputy Registrar-General.(5) In subsection (2) (b), the reference to the prescribed fee is, in relation to an application made under that paragraph:(a) in the case of land subject to the provisions of the Real Property Act 1900—a reference to the fee prescribed under that Act for the purposes of that paragraph, or(b) in the case of land not subject to those provisions—a reference to the fee prescribed under the Conveyancing Act 1919 for the purposes of that paragraph.
701 Evidence as to whether a place is a public road
(1) Evidence that a place is or forms part of a thoroughfare in the nature of a road, and is so used by the public, is admissible in any legal proceedings and is evidence that the place is or forms part of a public road.(2) This section is subject to section 178 of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (No way by user against Crown, etc).
702 Offences on boundaries of areas
(1) In proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed on any part of a public road or on or in any part of a river, watercourse or tidal or non-tidal water, any part of which forms the boundary of the area, it is not necessary to prove that the place where the offence is alleged to have been committed was on either side of the boundary, but it is sufficient to prove that the place where the offence is alleged to have been committed is part of the road, river, watercourse or water.(2) The council of the area or the council of any adjoining area may take proceedings for any such offence.
Every entry in the minutes of the business transacted at a meeting of the council and purporting to be signed by the person presiding at a subsequent meeting of the council is, until the contrary is proved, evidence:(a) that the business as recorded in the minutes was transacted at the meeting, and(b) that the meeting was duly convened and held.
704 Delineation of local government boundaries by reference to maps
(1) In any proclamation, regulation or notice made or given or purporting to be made or given under this Act with respect to the boundaries of any area or with respect to any proposal relating to those boundaries, the boundaries of the land affected:(a) may be defined by metes and bounds, or(b) may be defined or indicated by reference to recorded plans kept in the central plan register established under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1949.(2) If the Minister certifies in writing to the Governor that it is desirable that the existing boundaries of any area be described by reference:(a) to different surveys or definitions of land boundaries, or(b) to different recorded plans kept in the central plan register established under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1949,the Governor may, by proclamation, redescribe those boundaries accordingly.(3) On and from the publication in the Gazette of the proclamation, the boundaries of the area are to be as so redefined.(4) Recorded plans referred to in this section are taken to be public documents for the purposes of sections 152 (Documents produced from proper custody) and 156 (Public documents) of the Evidence Act 1995.