Rule 2:201. Judicial Notice of Adjudicative Facts

• Library: A Guide to the Rules of Evidence in Virginia (Virginia CLE) (2021 Ed.)

Rule 2:201. JUDICIAL NOTICE OF ADJUDICATIVE FACTS

(a) Notice. A court may take judicial notice of a factual matter not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is either (1) common knowledge or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.

(b) Time of taking notice. Judicial notice may be taken at any stage of the proceeding.

(c) Opportunity to be heard. A party is entitled upon timely motion to an opportunity to be heard as to the propriety of taking judicial notice.

NOTES

Subdivision (a). This subdivision permits notice of facts beyond reasonable controversy. Griswold v. Commonwealth, 19 Va. App. 477, 484 (1995), rev'd on other grounds, 252 Va. 113 (1996) ("The trial court may take judicial notice of facts which are either (a) common knowledge or (b) easily ascertainable by reference to reliable sources. These are two separate and distinct grounds for judicial notice."). See generally Thomas v. Commonwealth, 48 Va. App. 605 (2006). The key to a fair trial is the opportunity to use appropriate tools (rebuttal evidence, cross-examination, and argument) to meet adverse material. These considerations call for dispensing with traditional methods of proof only in clear cases. Courts may take judicial notice of matters...