Self-authenticating document

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Evidence
Part of the law series
Types of evidence
Testimony Documentary Real (physical) Digital Exculpatory Inculpatory Demonstrative Eyewitness identification Genetic (DNA) Lies Consciousness of guilt
Relevance
Burden of proof Laying a foundation Materiality Public policy exclusions Spoliation Character Habit Similar fact
Authentication
Chain of custody Judicial notice Best evidence rule Self-authenticating document Ancient document Hague Evidence Convention
Witnesses
Competence Privilege Direct examination Cross-examination Redirect Impeachment Proffer agreement Recorded recollection Expert witness Dead Man's Statute
Hearsay and exceptions
in English law in United States law Confessions Business records Excited utterance Dying declaration Party admission Ancient document Declaration against interest Present sense impression Res gestae Learned treatise Implied assertion
Other common law areas
Contract Tort Property Wills, trusts and estates Criminal law
v t e

A self-authenticating document, under the law of evidence in the United States, is any document that can be admitted into evidence at a trial without proof being submitted to support the claim that the document is what it appears to be. Several categories of documents are deemed to be self-authenticating:

Certified copy of public or business records;
Official publications of government agencies;
Newspaper articles;
Trade inscriptions, such as labels on products;
Acknowledged documents (wherein the signer also gets a paper notarized); and
Commercial paper under the Uniform Commercial Code.

Although most U.S. states have evidentiary rules similar to the Federal Rules of Evidence, the California Evidence Code diverges significantly from the FRE in that it does not treat trade inscriptions as self-authenticating. However, this divergence is not as significant as it may first appear, because California also allows for the admissibility of secondary evidence of documents and the nonhearsay use of evidence of trade inscriptions as circumstantial evidence of identity.

References

"Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 902 - Evidence that is Self-Authenticating". Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
See Dicola v. White Brothers Performance Prods., 158 Cal. App. 4th 666 (2008) (holding that product label was hearsay).
Hart v. Keenan Properties, 9 Cal. 5th 442 (2020) (reversing Court of Appeal opinion which relied on Dicola to hold invoices were hearsay).

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