A document in due form purporting to be a bill of lading, policy or certificate of insurance, official weigher's or inspector's certificate, consular invoice or any other document authorized or required by the contract to be issued by a third party is prima facie evidence of its own authenticity and genuineness and of the facts stated in the document by the third party.

History: 1953 Comp., § 50A-1-202, enacted by Laws 1961, ch. 96, § 1-202; 1978 Comp §55-1-202; recompiled by compiler as 1978 Comp. § 55-1-307; Laws 2005, ch. 144, § 21.

OFFICIAL COMMENTS

UCC Official Comments by ALI & the NCCUSL. Reproduced with permission of the PEB for the UCC. All rights reserved.

Source. — Former Section 1-202 [55-1-202 NMSA 1978].

Changes from former law. — Except for minor stylistic changes, this Section is identical to former Section 1-202.

1. This section supplies judicial recognition for documents that are relied upon as trustworthy by commercial parties.

2. This section is concerned only with documents that have been given a preferred status by the parties themselves who have required their procurement in the agreement, and for this reason the applicability of the section is limited to actions arising out of the contract that authorized or required the document. The list of documents is intended to be illustrative and not exclusive.

3. The provisions of this section go no further than establishing the documents in question as prima facie evidence and leave to the court the ultimate determination of the facts where the accuracy or authenticity of the documents is questioned. In this connection the section calls for a commercially reasonable interpretation.

4. Documents governed by this section need not be writings if records in another medium are generally relied upon in the context.

Compiler's notes. — Laws 2005, ch. 144, § 21, effective January 1, 2006, enacted a new 55-1-307 NMSA 1978 relating to prima facie evidence. Section 55-1-307 NMSA 1978 is almost identical to former 55-1-202 NMSA 1978 relating to prima facie evidence. For repeal and reenactment of a law that is not a new enactment, see 12-2A-14 NMSA 1978. For provisions of former 55-1-202 NMSA 1978, see the 2004 NMSA 1978 on NMOneSource.com.