Also known as: public seals · official seal · government seal
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An official impression or device affixed by a governmental authority to a document to establish its authenticity. The presence of such a seal on a domestic public record or certificate permits the document to prove its own genuineness without extrinsic evidence of execution or attestation.
Parker Phillips executes his will before two witnesses and an authorized notary. The notary completes the self-proving affidavit on the same day and affixes the county clerk's official seal to the certificate. The seal satisfies the statutory requirement for simultaneous execution and self-proof, allowing the will to be admitted without further testimony about due execution.
Pavel Petrov offers a certified order from the Federal Election Commission in a disclosure dispute. The order bears the commission's embossed public seal and an officer's attestation. The seal establishes the document's authenticity on its face, eliminating any need for live testimony from agency staff.
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Penelope Price submits a Patent and Trademark Office registration bearing the agency's public seal to prove ownership in an infringement suit. The seal and accompanying signature render the certificate self-authenticating, so the court accepts it without additional foundation evidence.
Philip Powell introduces a Comptroller General report containing the office's public seal during a separation-of-powers challenge. The seal confirms the document's official character, allowing admission without extrinsic proof of its origin or accuracy.
Pablo Perez offers a certified legislative journal entry bearing the state senate's public seal to establish historical practice. The seal authenticates the record on its face, permitting its use without calling a custodian to testify.
Pilar Pena presents a city clerk's certificate bearing the municipal seal to prove the denial of a permit application. The public seal renders the certificate self-authenticating, so the court overrules an objection demanding live testimony from the issuing officer.
A document is self-authenticating when it bears a seal purporting to be that of the United States, a state, or one of their political subdivisions or agencies, together with a signature purporting to be an execution or attestation. The seal alone satisfies the authentication requirement under the evidence rules, so no live custodian testimony is needed.
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Yes. The rule looks only to whether the document purports on its face to bear the official seal of a qualifying governmental entity. A faded or black-and-white reproduction of the seal does not defeat self-authentication so long as the seal still appears to be the official one.
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No. The presence of the qualifying governmental seal eliminates any requirement to prove chain of custody or to call an agency witness. The seal itself supplies the necessary assurance of authenticity.
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…judicial notice; principal office. The Commission shall prepare written rules for the conduct of its activities, shall have an official seal which shall be judicially noticed, and shall have its principal office in or near the District of Columbia (but it may meet or exercise any of its powers anywhere in the United…