The Federal Rules of Evidence were adopted by order of the Supreme Court on November 20, 1972, transmitted to Congress by the Chief Justice on February 5, 1973, and came into effect on July 1, 1973. L. 93-12, 30 March 1973, 87 Stat. 9, provided that the proposed rules “shall have force and effect only to the extent and with the amendments expressly authorized by the law of Congress”. L. 93-595, January 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1926, promulgated the Federal Rules of Evidence proposed by the Supreme Court, with amendments in Congress that were to take effect on July 1, 1975. L. 93-595, §1, 2 January 1975, 88 Stat. 1926, provided: “The following rules shall enter into force on the one hundred and eightieth day [1 July 1975] from the date of entry into force of this Law [2 January 1975]. This Regulation shall apply to actions, cases and proceedings initiated after the entry into force of this Regulation. These rules shall also apply to subsequent proceedings in the actions, cases and proceedings then pending, unless the application of the rules is impracticable or results in injustice, in which case the previous principles of evidence shall apply. This website contains the latest version of the rules that are amended annually by the U.S.
Supreme Court, usually in March of each year, with the changes coming into effect in December of that year, including the most recent changes implemented on December 1, 2020. The Federal Rules of Evidence are a set of rules governing the introduction of evidence in civil and criminal proceedings in federal courts in the United States. The current rules were originally passed by Congress in 1975 after several years of Supreme Court drafting. The rules are simple and relatively short compared to other court rules, such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This is the Federal Rules of Evidence as amended on December 1, 2019. Click a rule to read it. The Federal Rules of Evidence are divided into 11 articles: Moving to the 2021 Federal Rules of Evidence Table of Contents » The Rules were amended on October 16, 1975, Pub. L. 94–113, §1, 89 Stat. 576, eff. October 31, 1975; 12 December 1975, Pub. L.
94-149, §1, 89 Stat. 805; 28 October 1978, Pub. L. 95-540, §2, 92 Stat. 2046; 6 November 1978, Pub. L. 95-598, Title II, §251, 92 Stat. 2673, eff. 1 October 1979; 30 April 1979, entry into force: 1 December 1980; 2 April 1982, Pub.
L. 97-164, Title I, §142, Title IV, §402, 96 Stat. 45, 57, eff. 1 October 1982; 12 October 1984, Pub. L. 98-473, Title IV, §406, 98 Stat. 2067 ; 2 March 1987, entry into force: 1 October 1987; 25 April 1988, entry into force: 1 November 1988; November 18, 1988, Pub. L. 100–690, Title VII, §§7046, 7075, 102 Stat. 4400, 4405; 26 January 1990, entry into force: 1 December 1990; 30 April 1991, entry into force: 1 December 1991; 22 April 1993, entry into force: 1 December 1993; 29 April 1994, entry into force: 1 December 1994; 13 September 1994, ed. 103–322, Title IV, §40141, Title XXXII, §320935, 108 Stat. 1918, 2135; 11 April 1997, entry into force: 1 December 1997; 24 April 1998, entry into force: 1 December 1998; 17 April 2000, entry into force: 1 December 2000; 27 March 2003, entry into force: 1 December 2003; 12 April 2006, entry into force: 1 December 2006; September 19, 2008, Pub.
L. 110–322, §1(a), 122 Stat. 3537 ; April 28, 2010, effective December 1, 2010; April 26, 2011, entry into force December 1, 2011; April 16, 2013, entry into force December 1, 2013; April 25, 2014, entry into force December 1, 2014; 25 April 2019, entry into force 1 December 2019.
