Article 1.
Statutes.
§ 8‑1. Printed statutes and certified copies evidence.
All statutes, or joint resolutions, passed by the General Assembly may be read in evidence from the printed statute book; or a copy of any act of the General Assembly certified by the Secretary of State shall be received in evidence in every court. (1826, c. 7; R.C., c. 44, ss. 4, 5; Code, ss. 1339, 1340; Rev., ss. 1592, 1593; C.S., s. 1747.)
§ 8‑2. Martin's collection of private acts.
Any private act published by Francis X. Martin, in his collection of private acts, shall be received in evidence in every court. (1826, c. 7, s. 2; R.C., c. 44, s. 5; Code, s. 1340; Rev., s. 1593; C.S., s. 1748.)
§ 8‑3. Laws of other states or foreign countries.
(a) 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 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, shall be 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 the reports of cases, adjudged in the courts thereof, shall also be admitted as evidence of the unwritten or common law thereof.
(b) Any party may exhibit a copy of the law of another state, territory, or foreign country copied from a printed volume of the laws of such state, territory, or country on file in
(1) The offices of the Governor or the Secretary of State, and duly certified by the Secretary of State, or
(2) The State Library and certified as provided in G.S. 125‑6, or
(3) The Supreme Court Library and certified as provided in G.S. 7A‑13 (f). (1823, c. 1193, ss. 1, 3, P.R.; R.C., c. 44, s. 3; C.C.P., s. 360; Code, s. 1338; Rev., s. 1594; C.S., s. 1749; 1967, c. 565.)
§ 8‑4. Judicial notice of laws of United States, other states and foreign countries.
When any question shall arise as to the law of the United States, or of any other state or territory of the United States, or of the District of Columbia, or of any foreign country, the court shall take notice of such law in the same manner as if the question arose under the law of this State. (1931, c. 30.)
§ 8‑5. Town ordinances certified.
In a trial in which the offense charged is the violation of a town ordinance, a copy of the ordinance alleged to have been violated, proven as provided in G.S. 160A‑79, shall be prima facie evidence of the existence of such ordinance. (1899, c. 277, s. 2; Rev., s. 1595; C.S., s. 1750; 1971, c. 381, s. 3; 1973, c. 1446, s. 17.)