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Federal Court Rules

Overview

"The study of Evidence is the study of the legal regulation applicable to proof of facts and to the inferences and arguments that arise from such proof, in the trial of a civil or criminal lawsuit. While evidence law was originally almost entirely decisional law, it is now mainly codified in statutes and rules of court. The most influential codification of evidence law has been the Federal Rules of Evidence (“F.R.E.”), 28 U.S.C.A. (Rules Appendix)." Paul F. Rothstein, et al., Evidence in a Nutshell (7th ed. 2022)

The Federal Rules of Evidence are available for free online; on the member database LexisNexis Digital Library; on the library's in house Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law computers; and in print. The Fed. R. Evid. is also available in the US Code. Historical versions of the Fed. R. Evid. may also be available. See below for more information.

Finding the Federal Rules of Evidence

Current Rules of Practice & Procedure United States Courts
Includes PDFs of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Bankruptcy Procedure, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence.

United States Code Service - Court Rules: Federal Rules of Evidence
Available on the LexisNexis Digital Library. A search for "United States Code Service" "Federal Rules of Evidence" will return the pertinent U.S.C.S. volumes.

Federal Rules of Evidence
Available on the library's Lexis computers.

Historical court rules back to 1998 also available. For instructions on finding historical court rules on Lexis, see the Historical US Code page of the United States Code guide.

Federal Rules of Evidence
Available on the library's Westlaw computers.

Historical court rules back to 1990 also available. For instructions on finding historical court rules on Westlaw, see the Historical US Code page of the United States Code guide.

Federal Rules of Evidence
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. 
Current rules only.

Federal Civil Rules Handbook West/Thomson Reuters
See Part IX: Federal Rules of Evidence for United States Courts.

United States Code
The U.S. Code can be found in multiple places. For a full list please see the United States Code guide.

  • In the U.S.C. (GPO) and the print U.S.C.A. (West), see title 28 Judiciary and Judicial Procedure or the Appendix to Title 18 Crimes and Criminal Procedure.
    • U.S.C.A through Westlaw database access - see the 'Westlaw' tab above.
  • In the print U.S.C.S. (Lexis), see the Court Rules volumes located after Title 54.
    • If accessing the U.S.C.S. via the LexisNexis Digital Library, a search for "United States Code Service" "Federal Rules of Evidence" will return the pertinent U.S.C.S. volumes.
    • U.S.C.S through Lexis database access - see the 'Lexis' tab above.