Lesson plan
Self-authenticating document
A self-authenticating document, under the law of evidence in the United States, is any document that can be admitted into evidence at a trial without proof being submitted to support the claim that the document is what it appears to be. Several categories of documents are deemed to be self-authenticating: #Certified copy of public or business records; #Official publications of government agencies; #Newspaper articles; #Trade inscriptions, such as labels on products; #Acknowledged documents (wherein the signer also gets a paper notarized); and #Commercial paper under the Uniform Commercial Code. Although most U.S. states have evidentiary rules similar to the Federal Rules of Evidence, the California Evidence Code diverges significantly from the FRE in that it does not treat trade inscriptions as self-authenticating. However, this divergence is not as significant as it may first appear, because California also allows for the admissibility of secondary evidence of documents and the nonhearsay use of evidence of trade inscriptions as circumstantial evidence of identity.
Article summary
A self-authenticating document, under the law of evidence in the United States, is any document that can be admitted into evidence at a trial without proof being submitted to support the claim that the document is what it appears to be. Several categories of documents are deemed to be self-authenticating: #Certified copy of public or business records; #Official publications of government agencies; #Newspaper articles; #Trade inscriptions, such as labels on products; #Acknowledged documents (wherein the signer also gets a paper notarized); and #Commercial paper under the Uniform Commercial Code. Although most U.S. states have evidentiary rules similar to the Federal Rules of Evidence, the California Evidence Code diverges significantly from the FRE in that it does not treat trade inscriptions as self-authenticating. However, this divergence is not as significant as it may first appear, because California also allows for the admissibility of secondary evidence of documents and the nonhearsay use of evidence of trade inscriptions as circumstantial evidence of identity.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.