Rule 601 General Rule of Competency

• Library: The Illinois Rules of Evidence: A Color-Coded Guide (2019 Ed.)

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 601. Competency to Testify in General

Every person is competent to be a witness unless these rules provide otherwise. But in a civil case, state law governs the witness's competency regarding a claim or defense for which state law supplies the rule of decision.

ILLINOIS RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 601. General Rule of Competency

Every person is competent to be a witness, except as otherwise provided by these rules, by other rules prescribed by the Supreme Court, or by statute.

COMMENTARY

Author's Commentary on Ill. R. Evid. 601

The first part of IRE 601 is virtually identical to the first sentence of the federal rule before the latter's amendment solely for stylistic purposes effective December 1, 2011. The second sentence of pre-amended (and current) FRE 601 is not codified as unnecessary in Illinois state proceedings.

Recognition of Statutory Provisions

The Illinois rule is adjusted to accommodate a statute such as the Dead-Man's Act (735 ILCS 5/8-201) which, as pointed out by the appellate court in State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Plough, 2017 IL App (2d) 160307, ¶ 5 is "rooted in English common law, [and] has been an evidentiary rule in Illinois in one form or another since 1867." The relevant portion of the Dead-Man's Act reads as follows:

"In the trial of any action in which any party sues or defends as the representative of a deceased person or person under a legal disability, no adverse party

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