Effective Date and Application of Rules
[Pub. L. 93–595, § 1], Jan. 2, 1975, [88 Stat. 1926], provided: “That the following rules shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day [July 1, 1975] beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 2, 1975]. These rules apply to actions, cases, and proceedings brought after the rules take effect. These rules also apply to further procedure in actions, cases, and proceedings then pending, except to the extent that application of the rules would not be feasible, or would work injustice, in which event former evidentiary principles apply.”
Historical Note
The Federal Rules of Evidence were adopted by order of the Supreme Court on Nov. 20, 1972, transmitted to Congress by the Chief Justice on Feb. 5, 1973, and to have become effective on July 1, 1973. [Pub. L. 93–12], Mar. 30, 1973, [87 Stat. 9], provided that the proposed rules “shall have no force or effect except to the extent, and with such amendments, as they may be expressly approved by Act of Congress”. [Pub. L. 93–595], Jan. 2, 1975, [88 Stat. 1926], enacted the Federal Rules of Evidence proposed by the Supreme Court, with amendments made by Congress, to take effect on July 1, 1975.
The Rules have been amended Oct. 16, 1975, [Pub. L. 94–113, § 1], [89 Stat. 576], eff. Oct. 31, 1975; Dec. 12, 1975, [Pub. L. 94–149, § 1], [89 Stat. 805]; Oct. 28, 1978, [Pub. L. 95–540, § 2], [92 Stat. 2046]; Nov. 6, 1978, [Pub. L. 95–598, title II, § 251], [92 Stat. 2673], eff. Oct. 1, 1979; Apr. 30, 1979, eff. Dec. 1, 1980; Apr. 2, 1982, [Pub. L. 97–164, title I, § 142], title IV, § 402, [96 Stat. 45], 57, eff. Oct. 1, 1982; Oct. 12, 1984, [Pub. L. 98–473, title IV, § 406], [98 Stat. 2067]; Mar. 2, 1987, eff. Oct. 1, 1987; Apr. 25, 1988, eff. Nov. 1, 1988; Nov. 18, 1988, [Pub. L. 100–690, title VII], §§ 7046, 7075, [102 Stat. 4400], 4405; Jan. 26, 1990, eff. Dec. 1, 1990; Apr. 30, 1991, eff. Dec. 1, 1991; Apr. 22, 1993, eff. Dec. 1, 1993; Apr. 29, 1994, eff. Dec. 1, 1994; Sept. 13, 1994, [Pub. L. 103–322, title IV, § 40141], title XXXII, § 320935, [108 Stat. 1918], 2135; Apr. 11, 1997, eff. Dec. 1, 1997; Apr. 24, 1998, eff. Dec. 1, 1998; Apr. 17, 2000, eff. Dec. 1, 2000; Mar. 27, 2003, eff. Dec. 1, 2003; Apr. 12, 2006, eff. Dec. 1, 2006; Sept. 19, 2008, [Pub. L. 110–322, § 1(a)], [122 Stat. 3537]; Apr. 28, 2010, eff. Dec. 1, 2010; Apr. 26, 2011, eff. Dec. 1, 2011.
The table of contents set out above has been editorially created to reflect the current contents of the Federal Rules of Evidence. A table of contents included in the Rules as enacted by [Pub. L. 93–595], which was amended by [Pub. L. 94–149, § 1(1)]–(8), Dec. 12, 1975, [89 Stat. 805]; [Pub. L. 95–540, § 2(b)], Oct. 28, 1978, [92 Stat. 2047]; [Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7046(b)], Nov. 18, 1988, [102 Stat. 4401]; [Pub. L. 103–322, title IV, § 40141(c)], Sept. 13, 1994, [108 Stat. 1919]; [Pub. L. 110–322, § 1(b)], Sept. 19, 2008, [122 Stat. 3538], was omitted because it does not reflect certain amendments to the Rules by Public Law and by Court order.
