Home / Evidence laws Rule 901(a)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence 1 What it says The proponent must produce evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims it is 1 Rule 901(b)(1)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence 1 What it says Testimony of a witness with knowledge that an item is what it is claimed to be 1 Rule 901(b)(4)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence 1 What it says Appearance, contents, substance, internal patterns or other distinctive characteristics, taken with all the circumstances 1 Rule 901(b)(9)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence 1 What it says Evidence describing a process or system and showing that it produces an accurate result 1 Rule 902(11)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence 2 What it says Domestic business records certified by a custodian or qualified person, with reasonable written notice before trial 2 Rule 902(13)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence, 2017 amendment 2 What it says A record generated by an electronic process or system that produces an accurate result, shown by certification of a qualified person 2 Rule 902(14)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence, 2017 amendment 2 What it says Data copied from a device, medium or file, authenticated by a process of digital identification such as hash comparison 2 Rule 201(b)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence 3 What it says Judicial notice of facts not subject to reasonable dispute, including from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned 3 Rule 201(f)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence 3 What it says Civil juries must accept a noticed fact as conclusive. Criminal juries may or may not accept it 3 Rule 1001(d)
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence 4 What it says For electronically stored information, any printout or other output readable by sight is an original if it accurately reflects the information 4 Rule 1003
Jurisdiction United States Law Federal Rules of Evidence 5 What it says A duplicate is admissible to the same extent as the original, save where authenticity is genuinely questioned or admission would be unfair 5 Section 30(1)
Jurisdiction Canada What it says A record made in the usual and ordinary course of business is admissible where oral evidence of the matter would be 6 Section 30(7)
Jurisdiction Canada What it says Notice at least seven days before producing a business record or affidavit, and production for inspection within five days of a request 6 Section 31.1
Jurisdiction Canada What it says The person seeking to admit an electronic document must prove it is what it is purported to be 6 Section 31.2
Jurisdiction Canada What it says Best evidence rule met by proof of system integrity, a section 31.4 presumption, or a printout consistently relied on as a record 6 Section 31.3
Jurisdiction Canada What it says Integrity presumed on evidence of proper operation, storage by an adverse party, or storage by a non-party in the ordinary course of business 6 Section 31.5
Jurisdiction Canada What it says Evidence may be given of standards, procedures, usage or practice for recording or storing electronic documents 6 Section 31.6
Jurisdiction Canada What it says Integrity and standards may be proved by affidavit. The deponent may be cross-examined, as of right if adverse, otherwise with leave 6 Section 31.7
Jurisdiction Canada What it says Sections 31.1 to 31.4 affect only the rules on authentication and best evidence 6 Section 1
Jurisdiction England and Wales Law Civil Evidence Act 1995 7 What it says Evidence in civil proceedings shall not be excluded on the ground that it is hearsay 7 Source legislation.gov.uk 7 Section 4
Jurisdiction England and Wales Law Civil Evidence Act 1995 7 What it says Factors for weighing hearsay, including contemporaneity, multiple hearsay, motive to misrepresent and edited accounts 7 Source legislation.gov.uk 7 Section 8
Jurisdiction England and Wales Law Civil Evidence Act 1995 7 What it says A statement in a document may be proved by a copy authenticated as the court approves, at any number of removes from the original 7 Source legislation.gov.uk 7 Section 9
Jurisdiction England and Wales Law Civil Evidence Act 1995 7 What it says Business and public authority records received without further proof, on an officer's certificate 7 Source legislation.gov.uk 7 CPR 32.19
Jurisdiction England and Wales Law Civil Procedure Rules 8 What it says Authenticity of a disclosed document is deemed admitted without a notice to prove, due by the witness statement deadline or within 7 days of disclosure 8 Source Ministry of Justice 8 CPR 33.2
Jurisdiction England and Wales Law Civil Procedure Rules 9 What it says Hearsay notice where a witness will not be called, no later than the latest date for serving witness statements 9 Source Ministry of Justice 9 Section 129
Jurisdiction England and Wales Law Criminal Justice Act 2003 10 What it says A representation made otherwise than by a person, depending on information a person supplied, needs proof that the information was accurate 10 Source legislation.gov.uk 10 Section 133
Jurisdiction England and Wales Law Criminal Justice Act 2003 11 What it says A statement in a document may be proved by the document or an authenticated copy, whether or not the document exists 11 Source legislation.gov.uk 11 Section 15(1)
Jurisdiction South Africa Law Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002 12 What it says Rules of evidence must not deny admissibility of a data message on the mere grounds that it is a data message 12 Source Government of South Africa 12 Section 15(3)
Jurisdiction South Africa Law Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002 12 What it says Weight depends on reliability of generation, storage or communication, integrity, identification of the originator and other factors 12 Source Government of South Africa 12 Section 15(4)
Jurisdiction South Africa Law Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002 12 What it says A business data message, or a certified copy or printout, is admissible on mere production and rebuttable proof of its facts 12 Source Government of South Africa 12 Article 9
Jurisdiction International Law UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce, 1996 13 What it says No denial of admissibility on the sole ground that information is a data message, and due evidential weight based on reliability 13 Article 41
Jurisdiction European Union Law Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS) 14 What it says An electronic time stamp is not denied legal effect or admissibility solely for being electronic. A qualified one is presumed accurate 14 Nothing matches. Clear the search or pick another filter.
Notes Rows summarise the provision text. They are not a full statement of the law, and court decisions may qualify them 2 ,6 The 2017 date for Rules 902(13) and 902(14) comes from the Committee Notes on that amendment 2 Rules and charges change. Check the official source linked on this page before you pay or travel. Spotted an error? Email hello@whatitsaidthen.com .
Sources Legal Information Institute: Rule 901. Authenticating or Identifying Evidence, Federal Rules of Evidence Legal Information Institute: Rule 902. Evidence That Is Self-Authenticating, Federal Rules of Evidence Legal Information Institute: Rule 201. Judicial Notice of Adjudicative Facts, Federal Rules of Evidence Legal Information Institute: Rule 1001. Definitions That Apply to This Article, Federal Rules of Evidence Legal Information Institute: Rule 1003. Admissibility of Duplicates, Federal Rules of Evidence Justice Laws Website: Canada Evidence Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-5) legislation.gov.uk: Civil Evidence Act 1995 Ministry of Justice: Civil Procedure Rules, Part 32, Evidence Ministry of Justice: Civil Procedure Rules, Part 33, Miscellaneous Rules about Evidence legislation.gov.uk: Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 129, Representations other than by a person legislation.gov.uk: Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 133, Proof of statements in documents Government of South Africa: Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002) United Nations: UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce with Guide to Enactment 1996, with additional article 5 bis as adopted in 1998 EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (23 July 2014) 