Order 4: Court Seal and Authentication of Court documents ^[1]

1^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} (1). The Court shall have for use in each County an embossing Seal or, in circumstances in which the Office has multiple locations, embossing Seals with an appropriate inscription, as directed by the Minister, specifying the name of the Circuit in connection with which it is to be used. Such Seal shall be placed and retained in the custody of the County Registrar. It shall not be necessary that any Decree, Order, Warrant or other document shall be signed by the Judge.

(2) Every document requiring under any provision of statute or statutory instrument, rule of law or any other Order of these Rules to be issued under Seal of the Court shall be authenticated by the Seal of the Court impressed thereon and the signature of a person mentioned in sub-rule (4).

(2A)^[6] Where any provision of these Rules or the existing practice of the Court requires that any court document or document be signed, such requirement shall be satisfied in the case of any court document or document transmitted or to be transmitted by digital delivery by the inclusion of an electronic signature within the meaning of section 2 of the Electronic Commerce Act 2000 and/or Article 3 of Regulation 910/2014/EU, which is used in accordance with the requirements of that Act and/or that Regulation. 

(2B)^[7] Where any provision of these Rules or the existing practice of the Court requires that any court document or document be sealed, such requirement may be satisfied in the case of any court document or document transmitted or to be transmitted by digital delivery by the inclusion of an electronic seal in accordance with Regulation 910/2014/EU

(3) Every document requiring authentication other than one referred to in sub-rule (2), and every Decree, Order and Warrant, shall be authenticated by the signature of a person mentioned in sub-rule (4).

(4) The persons who may authenticate the impression of the Seal of the Court on a document mentioned in sub-rule (2) or a document mentioned in sub-rule (3) are:

(a) the County Registrar, or

(b) such person, or one of such persons, as may, for such period as may be specified, be nominated in writing for that purpose by the County Registrar, or

(c) where any business of the office of the Court in a county is specified in accordance with section 14 of the Courts and Court Officers Act 2009 as business that shall be transacted in a combined court office established under that section, and for the purposes of such business:

(i) the combined court office manager appointed under section 19 of that Act for that combined court office, or

(ii) such member of the staff of the Courts Service employed in that combined court office under section 21 of the Courts and Court Officers Act 2009 as may, for such period as may be specified, be nominated in writing for that purpose by the combined court office manager concerned.

(5)^[8] The proper officer may certify any printed version of the legible content of any original document which was transmitted to or by the proper officer by digital delivery as a certified copy of the original.

2.^[9] Where by reason of the re-arrangement of Circuits an embossing Seal is not available for a particular Circuit Court area then until such time as an embossing Seal becomes  available, all documents required by Rule 1 of this Order to be authenticated by the Seal of the Court shall be authenticated by the signatures of both the Circuit Court Judge and

(a) the County Registrar for the said area or

(b) where paragraph (c) of rule 1(4)of this Order applies, the combined court office manager concerned or member of the staff of the Courts Service employed in the combined court office nominated in writing for that purpose by that combined court office manager.