New Amendment to Federal Rule of Evidence 902: Evidence That Is Self-Authenticating

On December 1, 2017, an amendment to Federal Rule of Evidence 902 will go into effect. Rule 902 focuses on "Evidence That Is Self-Authenticating", and the amendment will add subsections (13) "Certified Records Generated by an Electronic Process or System" and (14) "Certified Data Copied from an Electronic Device, Storage Medium, or File".

Lexis and Westlaw, both available in the library, include the new amendment with a note about its effective date. The print resource, Pennsylvania Rules of Court: Federal, also includes the text of the new amendment.

The May 2016 Committee Report from the Advisory Committee on Rules of Evidence provides insight into the amendment. This report contains the text of the amendment, Committee Notes, examples of how the rules can be used, a summary of the public comments regarding these rules, and the Minutes of the Meeting from the April 29, 2016 meeting.

For more information regarding the amendment to Rule 902, including sample scenarios, see The Legal Intelligencer article "Amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 902 Create a More Streamlined Process" by Justin N. Leonelli (October 31, 2017; 256 L.I. 2883).