Evidence Ordinance

(1)
Subject to this section, a copy of any entry or matter recorded in a banker’s record shall, on its production without further proof, be admitted in any proceedings as prima facie evidence of the matters, transactions and accounts therein recorded
if—
(a)
it is
proved—
(i)
that such entry was made or matter recorded in the ordinary course of business; and
(ii)
that such record is in the custody or control of the bank; and
(b)
except in the case of a copy made by any photographic process and subject to subsection (3), it is proved by some person who has examined the copy with the original entry, that the copy has been examined with the original entry and is correct.
(2)
A bank or officer of a bank shall not, in any proceedings other than proceedings instituted by or against the bank, be compelled to produce any banker’s record the contents of which can be proved under this section, or to appear as a witness to prove the matters, transactions or accounts therein recorded,
except—
(a)
in civil proceedings, by order of a judge made for special cause;
(b)
in criminal proceedings, by order of the court of trial.
(3)
In the case of a banker’s record kept by means of a computer, it shall not be
                necessary to prove the matters referred to in subsection
(1
)(
b)
in
                relation to a document produced by the computer which is tendered in evidence under
                this section as a copy of a matter recorded therein if (subject, in the case of
                civil proceedings, to any rules of court made under
section 54
of the
                High Court Ordinance (
Cap. 4
) with respect to this
                subsection) it is
proved—
(Amended
25 of 1998 s. 2
)
(a)
that the document was so produced under the direction of a person having
                    practical knowledge of and experience in the use of computers as a means of
                    storing, processing or retrieving information;
(b)
that during the period when the computer was used for the purpose of
                    keeping such record, appropriate measures were in force for preventing
                    unauthorized interference with the computer; and
(c)
that during that period, and at the time that the document was produced by the
                    computer, the computer was operating properly or, if not, that any respect in
                    which it was not operating properly or was out of operation was not such as to
                    affect the production of the document or the accuracy of its contents,
and for the purposes of this subsection
computer
(
電腦
) has the same
                    meaning as in
section 22A
.
(4)
In any proceedings, the matters referred to in subsection
(1
)(
a)
and
                (b) and
                subsection
(3
)(
a)
, (b) and (c) in relation to a banker’s
                record may be proved, orally or by affidavit, by any officer of the bank, and any
                such affidavit shall, on its production without further proof, be admitted in
                evidence and may include an explanation of the contents of the copy of any entry or
                matter recorded in such banker’s record which is tendered in evidence or any
                abbreviations, symbols or other markings appearing in such copy that may be relevant
                in the proceedings, and a description of the banker’s record, its nature and use,
                and the procedures followed in keeping it; and for the purposes of this subsection
                it shall be sufficient for a matter referred to in subsection
(1
)(
a
)(
i)
or
(3
)(
c)
to be stated in an affidavit to the best of the knowledge and
                belief of the person making the affidavit.
(5)
In relation to any criminal
proceedings—
(a)
this section shall apply to any document or record used in the ordinary business of a body designated by the Financial Secretary under
section 19B(1)
for the purposes of such criminal proceedings as it applies to a banker’s record, and a reference in this section to a bank shall, in its application to such document or record, be construed as a reference to the body so designated; but
(Amended
67 of 1986 s. 3
)
(b)
this section shall not apply to any document or record
used—
(i)
by a deposit-taking company or restricted licence bank which is a
                        company registered under Part I or IX of the Companies Ordinance (
Cap. 32
) as in force from time to time before the
                        commencement
                        date*
                        of
section 2 of Schedule 9
to the Companies Ordinance (
Cap. 622
) or under
Part 3
or
17
of the Companies Ordinance (
Cap.
                            622
);
(ii)
by a deposit-taking company or restricted licence bank which is a non-Hong
                        Kong company as defined by
section 2(1)
of the Companies
                        Ordinance (
Cap. 622
) if such document or record
                        is used in its ordinary business in Hong
                        Kong,
and for the
                    purposes of this paragraph
deposit-taking company or restricted licence
                        bank
(
接受存款公司或有限制牌照銀行
) means a
                    company which is required by the Banking Ordinance (
Cap.
                        155
) to be authorized thereunder as a deposit-taking company or
                    restricted licence bank.
(Amended
27 of 1986 s. 137
;
3 of 1990 s. 55
;
49 of 1995 s. 53
;
28 of 2012 ss. 912
&
920
)