§ 33.14 Ancient Documents: FRE 803(16)

• Jurisdiction: United States

§ 33.14 Ancient Documents: FRE 803(16)

Rule 803(16) recognizes a hearsay exception for ancient documents. As the rule was originally enacted, a document had to be at least 20 years old. In 2017, the exception was limited to statements in documents prepared before January 1, 1998. According to the drafters, "the ancient documents exception should be limited due to the risk that it will be used as a vehicle to admit vast amounts of unreliable electronically stored information (ESI). Given the exponential development and growth of electronic information since 1998, the hearsay exception for ancient documents has now become a possible open door for large amounts of unreliable ESI, as no showing of reliability needs to be made to qualify under the exception."

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