1. Acts of the executive of Guam, by the official records of the government of Guam; and of the United States, by the records of the State Department of the United States, certified by the head of the State Department. They may also be proved by public documents published by order of the government of Guam or by the United States Government Printing Office, respectively.

2. The proceedings of the legislature of this territory, or of Congress, by the journals of those bodies respectively, or either house thereof, or by published statutes or resolutions, or by copies certified by the clerk or printed by their order.

3. The acts of the executive, or the proceedings of the legislature of any state in the United States, in the same manner by public documents.

4. The acts of the executive, or the proceedings of the legislature of a foreign country, by journals published by their authority, or commonly received in that country as such, or by a copy certified under the seal of the country or sovereign, or by a recognition thereof in some public act of the executive of the United States.

5. Documents of any other class in Guam, by the original, or by a copy, certified by the legal keeper thereof.

6. Documents of any other class in a state or territory of the United States, by the original or by a copy, certified by the legal keeper thereof, together with the certificate of the Secretary of State or of the judge of the supreme, superior, or county court, or mayor of a city of such state that the copy is duly certified by the officer having the legal custody of the original.

7. Documents of any other class in a foreign country, by the original, or by a copy, certified by the legal keeper thereof, with a certificate, under seal, of the country or sovereign, that the document is a valid and subsisting document of such country, and the copy is duly certified by the officer having the legal custody of the original; provided, that in any foreign country which is composed of or divided into sovereign and/or independent states or other political subdivisions, the certificate of the country or sovereign herein mentioned may be executed by either the chief executive or the head of the state department of the state or other political subdivision of such foreign country in which said documents are lodged or kept, under the seal of such state or other political subdivision; and provided further, that the signature of the sovereign of a foreign country or the signature of the chief executive or of the head of the state department of a state or political subdivision of a foreign country

must be authenticated by the certificate of the minister or ambassador, or a consul, vice consul, or consular agent of the United States in such foreign country.

8. Documents in the departments of the United States Government, by the certificates of the legal custodian thereof. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1919. Public record of private writing evidence. A public record of a private writing may be proved by the original record, or by a copy thereof, certified by the legal keeper of the record. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1919a. Church records, registers, and entries as evidence. Church records and/or registers and/or entries therefrom and/or certificates kept or issued by a clergyman or other person in accordance with law or in accordance with the rules, regulations and/or requirements of a religious denomination, society or church, shall be competent evidence of the facts recited therein, if properly proved, attested, and authenticated as provided in § 1919b. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1919b. Same: proof of genuineness. Church records or registers or entries therefrom or certificates, of the character mentioned in § 1919a, in order to be admissible in evidence, shall be proved by the original or by a copy thereof certified by the clergyman or other person having the custody of the original, provided that the genuineness of the signature of the clergyman or other person issuing such certificate or certifying to a copy of the same, or of such record or register or of entries therefrom, and the fact that he is the person having the custody of such record or register and/or certificate, and that such certificate or copy of certificate, record, register or entries therefrom, was duly issued by the person issuing the same shall be attested either by the bishop, chief priest, president, district superintendent, or other presiding officer of such religious denomination, society or church, under his seal, if he has a seal, or by a notary public or other civil officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments or to issue certificates as to the genuineness of signatures and/or the correctness of documents or of copies thereof, under his seal, if he has a seal; provided further, that the fact that such record, register and/or certificate is a document kept in accordance with law or in accordance with the rules, regulations and/or requirements of a religious denomination, society or church may be proved by the certificate of such

bishop, chief priest, president, district superintendent, or other presiding officer of such religious denomination, society or church, or of a notary public or other civil officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments and/or to issue certificates as to the genuineness of signatures and/or the correctness of documents or of copies thereof, under his seal, if he has a seal; and provided further, that the genuineness of the signature and the status of such bishop, chief priest, president, district superintendent, or other presiding officer of such religious denomination, society or church, and/or of such notary public or other civil officer shall, in any state in the United States, be authenticated by the certificate of the Secretary of State, and shall, in a foreign country, be authenticated by the certificate of the minister or ambassador or a consul, vice consul, or consular agent of the United States in such foreign country. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1920. Entries prima facie evidence. Entries in public or other official books or records, made in the performance of his duty by a public officer of Guam, or by another person in the performance of a duty specially enjoined by law, are prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1921. Justice's judgment in states of United States, how proved. A transcript from the record or docket of a justice of the peace of a state or territory of the United States, of a judgment rendered by him, of the proceedings in the action before the judgment, of the execution and return, if any, subscribed by the justice and verified in the manner prescribed in the next section, is admissible evidence of the facts stated therein. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1922. Same. There must be attached to the transcript a certificate of the justice that the transcript is in all respects correct, and that he had jurisdiction of the action, and also a further certificate of the clerk of prothonotary of the county in which the justice resided at the time of rendering the judgment, under the seal of the county, or the seal of the court of common pleas, or superior court thereof, certifying that the person subscribing the transcript was, at the date of the judgment, a justice of the peace in the county, and that the signature is genuine. Such judgment, proceedings, and jurisdiction may also be proved by the justice himself, on the production of his docket, or by a

copy of the judgment, and his oral examination as a witness. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1923. Contents of certificates, etc. Whenever a copy of a writing is certified for the purpose of evidence, the certificate must state in substance that the copy is a correct copy of the original, or of a specified part thereof, as the case may be. The certificate must be under the official seal of the certifying officer, if there be any, or if he be the clerk of a court having the seal, under the seal of such court. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1924. Provisions, etc., of states apply to territories. The provisions of the preceding sections of this Article applicable to the public writings of a state, are equally applicable to the public writings in the United States, or a territory of the United States. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1925. Certificates of purchase primary evidence of ownership. A certificate of title or purchase, or of location, of any lands in Guam, issued or made in pursuance of any law of the United States, or of Guam, is primary evidence that the holder or assignee of such certificate is the owner of the lands described therein. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1926. Entries by officers, etc. An entry made by an officer, or board of officers, or under the direction and in the presence of either, in the course of official duty, is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in such entry. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1928. Deed, evidence of transfer. A deed of conveyance of real property, purporting to have been executed by a proper officer in pursuance of legal process of any of the courts of record of Guam, acknowledged and recorded in the Department of Land Management, or the record of such deed, or a certified copy of such record is prima facie evidence that the property or interest therein described was thereby conveyed to the grantee named in such deed. [Enacted 1953.]

Original writing to be produced or accounted for.
When in possession of adverse party, notice to be given.
Writings called for and inspected may be withheld.
Writings, how proved.

§ 1951.

Instruments affecting real property, used as evidence.
Court may order old exhibits destroyed, when.

§ 1952.

§ 1929. Private writings classified. Private writings are either:

1. Sealed; or,

2. Unsealed. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1930. Seal defined. A "seal" is a particular sign, made to attest, in the most formal manner, the execution of an instrument. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 1931. Seal, and how made. A public seal in Guam is a stamp or impression made by a public officer with an instrument provided by law, to attest the execution of an official or public document, upon the paper, or upon any substance attached to the paper, which is capable of receiving a visible impression. A private seal may be made in the same manner by any instrument, or it may be made by the scroll of a pen, or by writing the word "seal" against the signature of the writer. A scroll or other sign, made in a state or foreign country, and there recognized as a seal, must be so regarded in Guam. [Enacted 1953.]