§44.5 Purpose and Procedure

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§44.5PURPOSE AND PROCEDURE

Fed. R. CIV. P. 44 and CR 44 were adopted to provide a "simple and uniform method of proving public records, and entry or lack of entry therein, in all cases including those specifically provided for by statutes of the United States." FED. R. CIV. P. 44, Notes of Advisory Committee on Rules—1937. CR44has a very limited purpose: to prescribe how official records are to be qualified for admission in evidence or authenticated "when admissible for any purpose." CR 44(a)( 1). Thus, even if a document is an official record and within an exception to the hearsay rule, the document cannot be admitted into evidence unless it is authenticated in the manner set forth in CR 44 or by some other permissible means. Similarly, an authenticated document may still be inadmissible if it is irrelevant, is classified as hearsay, or is...