28 U.S.C. § 1741
Section 1741 · Foreign official documents
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 24 court decisions — leading case Zwack v. Kraus Bros. (1956)
Most recently applied in 168 F. Supp. 3d 698 - Sicom S.P.A. v. TRS Inc. (March 2016)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
An official record or document of a foreign country may be evidenced by a copy, summary, or excerpt authenticated as provided in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
1948 Act
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §695e (June 20, 1936, ch. 640, §6, 49 Stat. 1563).
Words “Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to alter, amend, or repeal section 689 of this title,” at the end of section 695e of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., were omitted. Although significant in the original Act, such words are unnecessary in a revision wherein both sections in question, as revised, are enacted at the same time.
See also Rule 44 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Section 695e–1 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., providing for certification of Vatican City Documents will be incorporated in title 22, U.S.C., Foreign Relations and Intercourse.
Changes were made in phraseology.
1949 Act
This section corrects a typographical error in section 1741 of title 28, U.S.C.
Amendments
1964—Pub. L. 88–619 substituted “An official record or document of a foreign country may be evidenced by a copy, summary, or excerpt authenticated as provided in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure” for “A copy of any foreign document of record or on file in a public office of a foreign country or political subdivision thereof, certified by the lawful custodian thereof, shall be admissible in evidence when authenticated by a certificate of a consular officer of the United States resident in such foreign country, under the seal of his office, that the copy has been certified by the lawful custodian” in text, and “official documents” for “documents, generally; copies” in section catchline.
1949—Act May 24, 1949, corrected spelling of “admissible”.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Authentication of copy of official record, see rule 44 Appendix to this title.
Effect of rule 44 on former section 695e of this title, see note by Advisory Committee under rule 44.
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Criminal cases, proof of official record, see rule 27, Title 18, Appendix, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.