Who must sign or seal the record of the trial, and what must be noted on it when a required person cannot sign?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice file, we read the record of the trial itself to see whose signature or seal appears on it and, where one is missing, whose reason is noted in its place, alongside the court's attendance papers showing who served as presiding judge and court official at that hearing.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the chain as written: the presiding judge and the court official who took part must sign or seal the record; if the presiding judge cannot, another judge signs after noting the reason, and if all judges cannot, the participating court official signs after noting the reason; if that court official cannot, the presiding judge or another judge signs after noting the reason.
Another reading notes that the provision fixes where the reason must appear, requiring the substitute signer to note it on the record itself, yet it does not say how detailed that noted reason must be or what would show it was a genuine inability rather than an omission.
Your judgment
When a reason for a missing signature is noted on the record, what further fact in the file would show that the inability was real?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change who must sign or what the noted reason must show, or if a court decision sets how detailed the reason noted on the record must be.