(1)A certificate of the Defence Council or of an officer designated by the Defence Council as to the duration of a person’s whole-time service is conclusive for the purposes of any proceedings before, or on appeal from, a Reinstatement Committee.
(2)Every document purporting to be such a certificate, or any other certificate authorised by this Act and to be signed by or on behalf of—
(a)the Secretary of State, or
(b)in Northern Ireland, the Department of Economic Development, or
(c)the Defence Council or an officer designated by the Defence Council,
shall be received in evidence, and shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such a certificate of the Secretary of State, or of the Department of Economic Development, or of the Defence Council, as the case may be.
(3)In any proceedings before, or on appeal from, a Reinstatement Committee, the production of a document—
(a)which purports to be certified by or on behalf of—
(i)the Secretary of State, or
(ii)in Northern Ireland, the Department of Economic Development, or
(iii)the Defence Council, and
(b)which purports to be a true copy of any such certificate as is mentioned in subsection (2),
shall, unless the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence of the certificate.
The production in any civil or criminal proceedings of a document purporting to be certified by the chairman of a Reinstatement Committee, or by the umpire or a deputy umpire, to be a true record of a determination or order of the committee, or of the umpire or deputy umpire on appeal, as the case may be, shall, unless the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence of the determination or order.
Where—
(a)civil or criminal proceedings are brought under this Act against a person for failure to comply with an order of a Reinstatement Committee, or of the umpire or a deputy umpire on appeal, and
(b)proof is given of such an order against a person bearing the name in which the person against whom the proceedings are brought is charged or appears in the proceedings.
then that order shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be an order against the person against whom the proceedings are brought.