A public instrument is any

legal instrument Legal instrument is a legal term of art that is used for any formally executed written document that can be formally attributed to its author, records and formally expresses a legally enforceable act, process, or contractual duty, obligation, or ...

(legal document) recorded with and authenticated by a public office or employee. To carry weight, any such instrument, must be genuine and authentic. Public instruments consequently must bear the name, title, and seal of the official that issued them, and should be written in the presence of witnesses who attested to them. A public instrument is generally admissible in evidence without the necessity of preliminary proof of its authenticity and due execution."Sicat vs Ariola Jr : AC 5864 : April 15, 2005 : Per Curiam : En Banc : Resolution", ''Judiciary of the Philippines'', tm retrieved 23 September 2009

In other words, public instruments are self-authenticating document, self-authenticating documentary evidence. A

presumption of regularity The presumption of regularity is a presumption that forms part of the law of evidence of England and Wales. It is expressed by the maxim of law ''omnia praesumuntur rite et solemniter esse acta donec probetur in contrarium'', which may be shortene ...

and validity attaches to public instruments; for the instrument to be rebutted, it must be proven in court to contain a willful material error. Typical types of public instruments include: * State and federal laws * Laws of foreign nations *

Vital record Vital records are records of life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage licenses (or marriage certificates), separation agreements, divorce certificates or divorce party and death certificates. In som ...

s * Legislative acts ** Acts of statute (

acts of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament be ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

) **

Subordinate legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democr ...

* Judicial instruments ** Judgments, orders, and decrees ** Court writs or process ** Court records ** Rules of court * notarial acts * Municipal and county charters * Ordinances and resolutions of municipalities * Administrative agency rules * Items under official governmental seal **

Patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

s, authentication certificates,

apostille The Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). ...

s, etc. * Any deed or formal agreement recorded and filed with a government register or records office ** Title-deeds, conveyances, wills, company charters, public inventories, etc.

Civil and Scots law

Public instruments at civil law are generally known as public instruments (Germ: ''öffentliche Urkunde'', Fr: ''acte public'', Sp: ''instrumento público'') and under Scots law as probative or self-proving instruments. These categories refer more to the level of evidenciary validity given an instrument in court. Under these legal systems, to be received as a public instrument, a document must be subjected to a number of conditions. These include: * Execution before two or more witnesses, or before an authorized civil-law notary or public officer * Testified by a public seal * Rendered public by the authority of a competent judicial officer * Certified as a copy of a public register. Any such instrument is said to ''prove itself'', that is, it has the privilege of being free from challenge or rebuttal at court.

Notes

{{Authority control Civil law (common law) Public sphere

Civil and Scots law

See also

Notes