(1) A copy of any entry in a book of a registered society, regularly kept in the course of its business, shall if certified in such manner as may be prescribed, be received in any suit or legal proceedings, as prima facie evidence of the existence of such entry, and shall be admitted, as evidence of the matters, transactions and accounts therein recorded in every case where, and to the same extent as, the original entry itself is admissible.
(2) No officer of a society and no officer in whose office the books of a society are deposited after liquidation shall, in any legal proceedings to which the society or the liquidator is not a party, be compelled to produce any of the society's books or documents, the contents of which can be proved under this section, or to appear as a witness to prove the matters, transactions and accounts therein recorded, except under the order of the court or the arbitrator made for special cause.