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372 So. 2d 1369

Docket No. 57115.

In Re Florida Evidence Code

Supreme Court of Florida

Decided June 28, 1979.

Supreme Court of Florida · decided 1979-06-28

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“"It is generally recognized that the present rules of evidence are derived from multiple sources, specifically, case opinions of this Court, the rules of this Court, and statutes enacted by the legislature. Rules of evidence may in some instances be substantive law and, therefore, the sole responsibility of the legislature. In other instances, evidentiary rules may be procedural and the responsibility of this Court."”

quoted by 2 later decisions, including 884 So. 2d 57 - Eliakim v. State, 870 So. 2d 152 - In Re Commitment of Cartwright

“avoid multiple appeals and confusion in the operation of the courts [which would be] caused by assertions that portions of the evidence code are procedural and, therefore, unconstitutional because they had not been adopted by this Court under it rule-making authority.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 782 So. 2d 339 - In Re Amendments to Fla. Evidence Code

Relies on 281 So. 2d 204 - In Re Clarification of Florida Rules of Prac. & Pro.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1979-06-28

How this case has been cited

Cited by 37 later decisions — most recently November 2018 · most notably Johnson v. State (1987), 609 So. 2d 493 - Rodriguez v. State (1992)

37 state decisions

12019791980199020002010decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1PER CURIAM.

¶2This Court has jurisdiction to adopt rules of practice and procedure under the provisions of article V, section 2(a), Florida Constitution.

¶3The Florida Evidence Code was adopted unanimously by the legislature in the 1976 regular session.[1] The act originally was intended to take effect July 1, 1977; the effective date of the code was delayed, however, until July 1, 1979.[2]

¶4It is generally recognized that the present rules of evidence are derived from multiple sources, specifically, case opinions of this Court, the rules of this Court, and statutes enacted by the legislature. Rules of evidence may in some instances be substantive law and, therefore, the sole responsibility of the legislature. In other instances, evidentiary rules may be procedural and the responsibility of this Court.

¶5To avoid multiple appeals and confusion in the operation of the courts caused by assertions that portions of the evidence code are procedural and, therefore, unconstitutional because they had not been adopted by this Court under its rule-making authority, the Court hereby adopts temporarily the provisions of the evidence code as enacted by chapter 76-237, Laws of Florida, and subsequently amended by chapters 77-77, 77-174, 78-361, and 78-379, Laws of Florida, to the extent that they are procedural, as rules of this Court effective from and after 12:01 a.m., July 1, 1979. These rules shall govern all proceedings within their scope subsequent to that date, and all present rules of evidence established by case law or express rules of court are hereby superseded to the extent they are in conflict with the code. See In re Clarification of Florida Rules of Practice and Procedure,281 So.2d 204 (Fla. 1973).

¶6Our approval and adoption of the evidence code is transitional and temporary in nature, and we request The Florida Bar, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, and other interested parties to file any appropriate suggestions or objections on or before October 1, 1979, directed to specific rules of evidence contained in the code and stating *1370 (1) the basis why the challenged rule is procedural rather than substantive, and (2) why the rule is inappropriate in its present form.

¶7It is so ordered.

¶8ENGLAND, C.J., and ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON, SUNDBERG, HATCHETT and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur.

NOTES

¶9[1] Ch. 76-237, Laws of Fla. Several technical and stylistic changes have been made. Ch. 77-77, 77-174, 78-361, Laws of Fla.

¶10[2] Chapter 76-237, section 8, Laws of Florida, provided an effective date of July 1, 1977. The effective date was changed to July 1, 1978, by chapter 77-77, section 1; to January 1, 1979, by chapter 78-361, section 22; and to July 1, 1979, by chapter 78-379, section 1, Laws of Florida.

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