Regulation 5 of The General Commissioners (Jurisdiction and
Procedure) Regulations 1994 (SI1994/ 1812) and Regulation 6 of The
Special Commissioners (Jurisdiction and Procedure) Regulations 1994
(SI1994/ 1811) govern the `proving’ of documents (see
AH0465).
`Proving' a document simply means satisfying the
Commissioners that it is what it purports to be, in other words,
that it is genuine. Generally, to prove a document formally you
must call as a witness either its author or someone else who can
verify its authenticity. A document supplied by a third party can
only be proved by the third party concerned. Clearly, if everyone
accepts that a particular document is authentic by agreeing or
admitting it, then, in any event, formal proof would not be
required. Because you admit a document you are not prevented from
criticising its content or putting your own construction on it in
accordance with the evidence.
If a document which you wish to put in evidence is not
admitted or agreed by the taxpayer you may think formal proof is
necessary or desirable. This may be, for example, because you wish
to emphasise the weight that the Commissioners can attach to the
document and its contents or because your case relies heavily upon
it and, in those circumstances, you should call the signatory to or
author of the document as a witness to `prove' it. If it is a
document which can be proved by a witness called for the appellant,
then you must put it to him during cross-examination.
