Court Opinion

ID: 9370507
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-13 21:08:46.685532+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:21.734026
License: Public Domain

Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence

Rule 201.     Judicial Notice of Adjudicative Facts.

       (a)    Scope. This rule governs judicial notice of an adjudicative fact only, not a
              legislative fact.

       (b)    Kinds of Facts [That May Be] that may be Judicially Noticed. The court
              may judicially notice a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute because
              it:

              (1)    is generally known within the trial court’s territorial jurisdiction; or

              (2)    can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose
                     accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.

       (c)    Taking Notice. The court:

              (1)    may take judicial notice on its own; or

              (2)    must take judicial notice if a party requests it and the court is supplied
                     with the necessary information.

       (d)    Timing. The court may take judicial notice at any stage of the proceeding.

       (e)    Opportunity to [Be] be Heard. On timely request, a party is entitled to be
              heard on the propriety of taking judicial notice and the nature of the fact to
              be noticed. If the court takes judicial notice before notifying a party, the
              party, on request, is still entitled to be heard.

       (f)    Instructing the Jury. The court must instruct the jury that it may, but is not
              required to, accept as conclusive any fact judicially noticed.

Comment: This rule is identical to F.R.E. 201, except for [paragraph] subdivision (f).

      Pa.R.E. 201(a) limits the application of this rule to adjudicative facts. This rule is
not applicable to judicial notice of law. Adjudicative facts are facts about the events,
persons [and], places, or other subjects relevant to the matter before the court. See [2
McCormick, Evidence § 328 (6th ed. 2006)] 1 West's Pa. Prac., Evidence §§ 201-1,
201-2 (4th ed. 2021).

        In determining the law applicable to a matter, the judge is sometimes said to take
judicial notice of law. In Pennsylvania, judicial notice of law has been regulated by
decisional law [and], statute, and rule. See In re Annual Controller’s Reports for Years
1932, 1933, 1934, 1935 and 1936, [333 Pa. 489,] 5 A.2d 201 (Pa. 1939) (judicial notice
of public laws); 42 Pa.C.S. § 6107 (judicial notice of municipal ordinances); 42 Pa.C.S. §
5327 (judicial notice of laws of any jurisdiction outside the Commonwealth); 45 Pa.C.S. §
506 (judicial notice of the contents of the Pennsylvania Code and the Pennsylvania
Bulletin); see also, e.g., Pa.R.A.P. 126 (citation of authority); Pa.R.Civ.P. 242 (same);
Pa.R.J.C.P. 138 and 1138 (same), Pa.R.O.C.P. 1.22 (same), Pa.R.Crim.P. 102.1
(same), and Pa.R.Civ.P.M.D.J. 242 (same). [These rules are] This rule is not intended
to change existing provisions of law.

         Pa.R.E. 201(f) differs from F.R.E. 201(f). Under the Federal Rule the court is
required to instruct the jury to accept as conclusive any fact judicially noticed in a civil
case. In a criminal case, the judicially noticed fact is not treated as conclusive. Under
Pennsylvania law, the judicially noticed fact has not been treated as conclusive in either
civil or criminal cases, and the opposing party may submit evidence to the jury to disprove
the noticed fact. See Appeal of Albert, [372 Pa. 13,] 92 A.2d 663 (Pa. 1952);
Commonwealth v. Brown, [428 Pa. Super. 587,] 631 A.2d 1014 (Pa. Super. 1993).

[Official Note: Adopted May 8, 1998, effective October 1, 1998; rescinded and
replaced January 17, 2013, effective March 18, 2013.

Committee Explanatory Reports: Final Report explaining the January 17, 2013
rescission and replacement published with the Court’s Order at 43 Pa.B. 651
(February 2, 2013).]

                                             2