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with a certificate of a judge of a court of record of the county, parish, or district in which such office may be kept, or of the Governor, or secretary of state, the chancellor or keeper of the great seal, of the State, Territory, or Possession that the said attestation is in due form and by the proper officers.

If the certificate is given by a judge, it shall be further authenticated by the clerk or prothonotary of the court, who shall certify, under his hand and the seal of his office, that such judge is duly commissioned and qualified; or, if given by such Governor, secretary, chancellor, or keeper of the great seal, it shall be under the great seal of the State, Territory, or Possession in which it is made.

Such records or books, or copies thereof, so authenticated, shall have the same full faith and credit in every court and office within the United States and its Territories and Possessions as they have by law or usage in the courts or offices of the State, Territory, or Possession from which they are taken.

§ 1740. Copies of consular papers

Copies of all official documents and papers in the office of any consul or vice consul of the United States, and of all official entries in the books or records of any such office, authenticated by the consul or vice consul, shall be admissible equally with the originals.

§ 1741. Foreign documents, generally; copies

A copy of any foreign document of record or on file in a public office of a foreign country or political subdivision thereof, certified by the lawful custodian thereof, shall be admissible in evidence when authenticated by a certificate of a consular officer of the United States resident in such foreign country, under the seal of his office, that the copy has been certified by the lawful custodian.

§ 1742. Land titles; foreign records

A keeper or person having custody of laws, judgments, orders, decrees, journals, correspondence, or other public documents of any foreign government or its agents, relating to the title to lands claimed by or under the United States, on the application of the head of a department or agency of the United States, may authenticate and certify copies thereof under his hand and seal.

When such copies are certified by an American minister or consul, under his hand and seal of office, to be true copies of the originals, they shall be sealed up by him and returned to the General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury, who shall file them in his office, and cause them to be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose.

A certified copy of any such law, judgment, order, decree, journal, correspondence, or other public document, so filed, or recorded may be read in evidence, equally with the original, in any court, where the title to land claimed by or under the United States may come into question.

§ 1743. Demand on postmaster

The certificate of the Postmaster General or the General Accounting Office of the mailing to a postmaster of a statement of his account and that payment of the balance stated has not been received shall be sufficient evidence of a demand notwithstanding any allowances or credits subsequently made. A copy of such statement shall be attached to the certificate.

§ 1744. Copies of Patent Office documents, generally

Copies of letters patent or of any records, books, papers, or drawings belonging to the Patent Office and relating to patents, authenticated under the seal of the Patent Office and certified by the Commissioner of Patents, or by another officer of the Patent Office authorized to do so by the Commissioner, shall be admissible in evidence with the same effect as the originals.

Any person making application and paying the required fee may obtain such certified copies.

§ 1745. Copies of foreign patent specifications and drawings

Copies of the specifications and drawings of foreign letters patent, certified in the manner provided in section 1744 of this title, shall be prima facie evidence of the fact of the granting of such letters patent and of the date and contents thereof.

Sec.

CHAPTER 117. EVIDENCE; DEPOSITIONS

1781. Foreign witnesses.

1782. Testimony for use in foreign country.

1783. Subpoena of witness in foreign country. 1784. Contempt.

1785. Privilege against incrimination.

§ 1781. Foreign witnesses

Whenever a court of the United States issues letters rogatory or a commission to take a deposition in a foreign country, the foreign court or officer executing the same may make return thereof to the nearest United States minister or consul, who shall endorse thereon the place and date of his receipt and any change in the condition of the deposition, and transmit it to the clerk of the issuing court in the manner in which his official dispatches are transmitted to the United States Government.

§ 1782. Testimony for use in foreign country

The deposition of any witness within the United States to be used in any judicial procedure pending in any court in a foreign country with which the United States is at peace may be taken before a person authorized to administer oaths designated by the district court of any district where the witness resides or may be found.

The practice and procedure in taking such depositions shall conform generally to the practice and procedure for taking depositions to be used in courts of the United States.

§ 1783. Subpoena of witness in foreign country

(a) A court of the United States may subpoena, for appearance before it, a citizen or resident of the United States who:

(1) Has been personally notified in a foreign country to appear before a court thereof to testify pursuant to letters rogatory issued by such court of the United States, and who has failed to appear or has failed to answer any question which he would be required to answer were he being examined before such court of the United States; or

(2) is beyond the jurisdiction of the United States and whose testimony in a criminal proceeding is desired by the Attorney General.

(b) The subpoena shall designate the time and place for appearance before such court of the United States, and shall issue to any United States consul in such foreign country. The consul shall make personal service of the subpoena and any order to show cause, rule, judgment or decree on the request of the court of the United States or its marshal, and shall make return thereof to such court after tendering to the witness his necessary travel and attendance expenses, which shall be determined by such court and sent with the subpoena.

§ 1784. Contempt

(a) A court of the United States which has issued a subpoena served personally in a foreign country may order the witness who has failed to appear as directed therein to show cause before it at a designated time why he should not be punished for contempt.

(b) If security is given for any damage which the witness might suffer should the charge be dismissed, the court may direct, as a part of such order, than any property of the witness within the United States be levied upon or seized, in the manner provided by law or court rules governing levy or seizure under execution, and held to satisfy any judgment that may be rendered against the witness. The security required by this subsection shall not be required of the United States.

(c) The marshall making such levy or seizure shall forward to any United States consul within the country where the witness may be a copy of such order and a request that the consul make personal service of the order on the witness. The marshal shall also cause the order to be published once each week for six consecutive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation in the district where the court which issued the order sits.

(d) On the return day of such order or any later day to which the hearing may be continued, proof shall be taken. If the charge of recusancy against the witness is sustained, the court may adjudge him guilty of contempt and, notwithstanding any limitation upon the power of the court generally to punish for contempt, may fine him not more than $100,000 and direct that the fine and costs of the proceeding be satisfied unless paid by a sale of the property

levied upon or seized, such sale to be conducted upon the notice required and in the manner provided for sales upon execution. Any such judgment rendered upon service by publication only may be opened for answer within one year.

§ 1785. Privilege against incrimination

A witness shall not be required on examination under letters rogatory to disclose or produce any evidence tending to incriminate him under the laws of any State or Territory of the United States or any foreign state.

CHAPTER 119. EVIDENCE; WITNESSES

§ 1821. Per diem and mileage generally; subsistence A witness attending in any court of the United States or before a United States commissioner or person taking his deposition pursuant to any order of a court of the United States, shall receive $2 for each day's attendance and for the time necessarily occupied in going to and returning from the same, and 5 cents per mile for going from and returning to his place of residence. Witnesses who are not salaried employees of the Government and who are not in custody and who attend at points so far removed from their respective residences as to prohibit return thereto from day to day shall be entitled to an additional allowance of $3 per day for expenses of subsistence.

When a witness is detained in prison for want of security for his appearance, he shall be entitled, in addition to his subsistence, to a compensation of $1 per day.

§ 1825. Payment of fees

In any case wherein the United States or an officer or agency thereof, is a party, the United States marshal for the district shall pay all fees of witnesses on the certificate of the United States Attorney or Assistant United States Attorney, and in the proceedings before a United States Commissioner, on the certificate of such commissioner.

Fees and mileage need not be tendered to the witness upon service of a subpoena issued in behalf of the United States or an officer or agency thereof.

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