Same, § 934. Same, §§ 935, 936. Same, $3256, in part. Same, 937. Same, §§ 939, 940. where it is certified by the clerk or secretary of either house of the legislature, under the official seal of the body or board. §383. Proof of papers and records in town clerk's office. A copy of a paper filed, pursuant to law, in the office of a town clerk, or a transcript from a record kept therein, pursuant to law, certified by the town clerk, is evidence with like effect as the original. § 384. Conveyance and record as evidence. 1. A conveyance, acknowledged or proved, and certified, in the manner prescribed by law, to entitle it to be recorded in the county where it is offered, is evidence without further proof thereof. 2. Except as otherwise specially prescribed by law, the record of a conveyance duly recorded within the state, or a transcript thereof, duly certified, is evidence with like effect as the original conveyance. 3. The certificate of the acknowledgment, or of the proof of a conveyance, or the record, or the transcript of the record, of such a conveyance, is not conclusive; and it may be rebutted, and the effect thereof may be contested, by a party affected thereby. 4. If it appears that the proof was taken upon the oath of an interested or incompetent witness, the conveyance, or the record or transcript thereof, shall not be received in evidence until its execution is established by other competent proof. § 385. Searches by title insurance and abstract companies. Searches affecting property situate in any county in which the office of county clerk or register is a salaried one, when made and certified to by title insurance, abstract or searching companies, organized and doing business under the laws of this state, may be used in all actions or special proceedings in which official searches may be used, in place of and with the same legal effect as such official searches. § 386. Acknowledged, proved or certified instrument. Any instrument, except a promissory note, a bill of exchange, or a last will, may be acknowledged, or proved, and certified, in the manner prescribed by law for taking and certifying the acknowledgment or proof of a conveyance of real property; and thereupon it is evidence as if it was a conveyance of real property. § 387. Proof of proceedings before justice of the peace. 1. A transcript from the docket-book of a justice of the peace, within the state, subscribed by him, and authenticated by a certificate of the clerk of the county in which the justice resides, under his hand and official seal, to the effect that the person subscribing the transcript was, at the date of the judgment therein mentioned, a justice of the peace of that county; and that the clerk is acquainted with his handwriting and verily believes that the signature to the transcript is genuine; is evidence of any matter stated in the transcript, which is required by law to be entered by the justice in his docket-book. 2. The proceedings in an action brought, or a special proceeding instituted, before a justice of the peace, within the state, may also be proved by the oath of the justice. 3. In case of his death or absence, they may be proved by the original minutes of the proceedings kept by him, pursuant to law, accompanied with proof of his handwriting; or by a copy of the minutes, sworn to by a competent witness as having been compared with the original entries, with proof that those entries were in the handwriting of the justice. § 941. § 388. Proof of municipal records. An act, ordinance, reso- Same, lution, by-law, rule or proceeding of the common council of a city, or of the board of trustees of an incorporated village, or of a local board of health of a city, town or incorporated village or of a board of supervisors, within the state, may be read in evidence either from a copy thereof certified by the city clerk, village clerk, clerk of the common council, clerk or secretary of the local board of health, or clerk of the board of supervisors; or from a volume printed by authority of the common council of the city, or the board of trustees of the village or the local board of health of the city, town or village, or the board of supervisors. § 389. Proof of public records in New York county. All maps, surveys and official records, which shall have been on record or on file in the office of either the register of the city and county of New York, or the surrogate of said city, or any of the courts of record of said city, or the clerk of the city and county of New York, or any county within the city of New York, or any of the departments of said city as enumerated in section ninetysix of the Greater New York charter, or in the office of the regis ters, surrogate, commissioners of public works or kindred department, or park department, for a period of twenty years or upwards prior to such trial, shall be presumptive evidence of their contents, and shall be receivable in evidence as such upon any trial in any of the courts of this state in any controversy pending therein, between any parties. Same, § 955. Same, 931c. Source. Code of civil pro cedure, $942. Same, § 946. Same, § 947. § 390. Proof of books and records in state comptroller's office. An extract from the books and records in the office of the state comptroller in reference to any lot, piece or parcel of land, certified by him to contain all that is stated in such book or record relating to such lot, piece or parcel of land, may be read in evidence in all courts and proceedings with the same effect as the original book or record. STATUTES, RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS STATE WITHOUT § 391. Proof of statutes, decrees and decisions of another state or country. A printed copy of a statute, or other written law, of another state, or of a territory, or of a foreign country, or a printed copy of a proclamation, edict, decree or ordinance, by the executive power thereof, contained in a book or publication purporting or proved to have been published by the authority thereof, or proved to be commonly admitted as evidence of the existing law in the judicial tribunals thereof, is presumptive evidence of the statute, law, proclamation, edict, decree or ordinance. The unwritten or common law of another state, or of a territory, or of a foreign country, may be proved as a fact by oral evidence. The books of reports of cases adjudged in the courts thereof must also be admitted as presumptive evidence of the unwritten or common law thereof. § 392. Conveyance of land without the state as evidence. A conveyance of real property, situated without the state, acknowledged or proved, and certified, in like manner as a deed to be recorded within the county wherein it is offered in evidence, is evidence, without further proof thereof, as if it related to real property situated within the state. A conveyance of real property, situated within another state, or a territory of the United States, which has been duly authenticated, according to the laws of that state or territory, so as to be read in evidence in the courts thereof is evidence in like manner. § 393. Exemplification of record of conveyance of land without the state. An exemplification of the record of a conveyance of real property situated without the state, and within the United States, which has been recorded in the state or territory where the real property is situated, pursuant to the laws thereof, when certified under the hand and seal of the officer having the custody of the record is, if the original cannot be pro duced, presumptive evidence of the conveyance and of the due execution thereof. $$ 948 § 394. Proof of proceedings before justice of adjoining Same, state. 1. A transcript from the docket-book of a justice of the 951. peace within an adjoining state, of a judgment rendered by him; a transcript of his minutes of the proceedings in the cause, previous to the judgment; or of an execution issued thereon; or of the return of an execution; when subscribed by the justice, and authenticated as prescribed in subdivision two of this section, is presumptive evidence of his jurisdiction in the cause and of the matters shown by the transcript. 2. Such a transcript must be authenticated by a certificate of the justice, annexed thereto, to the effect that it is in all respects correct and that he had jurisdiction of the cause; and also by a certificate of the clerk or prothonotary of the county, in which the justice resided at the time of rendering the judgment, under his hand and seal of the court of common pleas, or other county court of the county, to the effect that the person subscribing the certificate attached to the transcript was, at the date of the judgment, a justice of the peace of that county; and that the signature thereto is in his own handwriting. 3. The judgment and other proceedings, and the justice's authority to render the judgment, may also be proved by the production of the docket or of a copy of the judgment or other proceedings; and the oral testimony of the justice to the truth and correctness thereof and to his authority to render the judgment. 4. The last three subdivisions do not prevent the introduction of evidence to controvert any of the proof in relation to the validity of a judgment therein specified. § 952, $395. Proof of foreign court records and proceedings. Same, A copy of a record, or other judicial proceeding, of a court of a foreign country, is evidence when authenticated as follows: 1. By the attestation of the clerk of the court, with the seal of the court affixed, or of the officer in whose custody the record is legally kept, under the seal of his office. 2. By a certificate of the chief judge or presiding magistrate of the court, to the effect that the person so attesting the record is the clerk of the court; or that he is the officer in whose custody the record is required by law to be kept; and that his signature to the attestation is genuine. 3. By the certificate, under the great or principal seal of the Same, § 953. Same, § 954. Same, $956. government under whose authority the court is held, of the secretary of state, or other officer having the custody of that seal, to the effect that the court is duly constituted, specifying generally the nature of its jurisdiction; and that the signature of the chief-judge or presiding magistrate to the certificate specified in the last subdivision is genuine. § 396. Testimony of a witness as proof of foreign court record. A copy of a record, or other judicial proceeding, of a court of a foreign country, attested by the seal of the court in which it remains, must also be admitted in evidence upon due proof of the following facts: 1. That the copy offered has been compared by the witness with the original and is an exact transcript of the whole of the original. 2. That the original was, when the copy was made, in the custody of the clerk of the court or other officer legally having charge of it. 3. That the attestation is genuine. § 397. Effect of authenticated foreign court record. Nothing in the last two sections is to be construed as declaring the effect of a record or other judicial proceeding of a foreign country, authenticated, so as to be evidence. § 398. Proof of foreign records and documents. A copy of a patent, record or other document remaining of record or on file in a public office of a foreign country, certified according to the form in use in that country, is evidence when authenticated as follows: 1. By the certificate under the hand and official seal of a commissioner appointed by the governor to take the proof or acknowledgment of deeds in that country, to the effect that the patent, record or document is of record or on file in the public office and that the copy thereof is correct and certified in due form; and 2. By a certificate under the hand and official seal of the secre tary of state, annexed to that of the commissioner, to the same effect as prescribed by law for the authentication of the certificate of such a commissioner, upon a conveyance to be recorded within the state. The certificate of the commissioner, thus authenticated, is presumptive evidence that the copy of the patent, record or document is certified according to the form in use in the foreign country; or 3. By a certificate under the hand and official seal of a consular officer of the United States to the effect that the patent, record or |