Rule 902. Self-authentication

Self-authentication. Extrinsic evidence of authenticity as a condition precedent to admissibility is not required with respect to the following:

(1) DOMESTIC PUBLIC DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL. A document bearing a seal purporting to be that of the United States, or of any State, district, Commonwealth, territory, or insular possession thereof, or the Panama Canal Zone, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or of a political subdivision, department, officer, or agency thereof, and a signature purporting to be an attestation or execution.

(2) DOMESTIC PUBLIC DOCUMENTS NOT UNDER SEAL. A document purporting to bear the signature in the official capacity of an officer or employee of any entity included in paragraph (1) hereof, having no seal, if a public officer having a seal and having official duties in the district or political subdivision of the officer or employee certifies under seal that the signer has the official capacity and that the signature is genuine.

(3) FOREIGN PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. A document purporting to be executed or attested in an official capacity by a person authorized by the laws of a foreign country to make the execution or attestation, and accompanied by a final certification as to the genuineness of the signature and official position (A) of the executing or attesting person, or (B) of any foreign official whose certificate of genuineness of signature and official position relates to the execution or attestation or is in a chain of certificates of genuineness of signature and official position relating to the execution or attestation. A final certification may be made by a secretary of an embassy or legation, consul general, consul, vice consul, or consular agent of the United States, or a diplomatic or consular official of the foreign country assigned or accredited to the United States. If reasonable opportunity has been given to all parties to investigate the authenticity and accuracy of official documents, the court may, for good cause shown, order that they be treated as presumptively authentic without final certification or permit them to be evidenced by an attested summary with or without final certification.

(4) CERTIFIED COPIES OF PUBLIC RECORDS. A copy of an official record or report or entry therein, or of a document authorized by law to be recorded or filed and actually recorded or filed in a public office, including data compilations in any form, certified as correct by the custodian or other person authorized to make the certification, by certificate complying with paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this rule or complying with any applicable statute or other rule of court.

(5) OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. Books, pamphlets, or other publications purporting to be issued by public authority.

(6) NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS. Printed materials purporting to be newspapers or periodicals.

(7) TRADE INSCRIPTIONS AND THE LIKE. Inscriptions, signs, tags, or labels purporting to have been affixed in the course of business and indicating ownership, control, or origin.

(8) ACKNOWLEDGED DOCUMENTS. Documents accompanied by a certificate of acknowledgment executed in the manner provided by law by a notary public or other officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments.

(9) COMMERCIAL PAPER AND RELATED DOCUMENTS. Commercial paper, signatures thereon, and documents relating thereto to the extent provided by general commercial law.

(10) SELF-AUTHENTICATION UNDER STATUTES AND RULES OF COURT. Any signature, document, or other matter declared by any statute, state or federal, or any rule promulgated by the Alabama Supreme Court to be presumptively or prima facie genuine or authentic.

(11) CERTIFIED DOMESTIC RECORDS OF REGULARLY CONDUCTED ACTIVITY. The original or a duplicate of a domestic record of regularly conducted activity that would be admissible under Rule 803(6) if accompanied by an affidavit or sworn testimony of its custodian or other qualified person, certifying that the record:

(A) was made at or near the time of the occurrence of the matters set forth by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge of those matters;

(B) was kept in the course of the regularly conducted activity; and

(C) was made by the regularly conducted activity as a regular practice. A party intending to offer a record into evidence under this section must provide written notice of that intention to all adverse parties and must make the record and certification available for inspection sufficiently in advance of their offer into evidence to provide an adverse party with a fair opportunity to challenge them.

(12) CERTIFIED FOREIGN RECORDS OF REGULARLY CONDUCTED ACTIVITY. The original or a duplicate of a foreign record of regularly conducted activity that would be admissible under Rule 803(6) if accompanied by a written declaration by its custodian or other qualified person certifying that the record:

(A) was made at or near the time of the occurrence of the matters set forth by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge of those matters;

(B) was kept in the course of the regularly conducted activity; and

(C) was made by the regularly conducted activity as a regular practice. The declaration must be signed in a manner that, if falsely made, would subject the maker to criminal penalty under the laws of the country where the declaration is signed. A party intending to offer a record into evidence under this paragraph must provide written notice of that intention to all adverse parties and must make the record and declaration available for inspection sufficiently in advance of their offer into evidence to provide an adverse party with a fair opportunity to challenge them.

(13) CERTIFIED RECORDS GENERATED BY AN ELECTRONIC PROCESS OR SYSTEM. A record generated by an electronic process or system that produces an accurate result, as shown by a certification of a qualified person that complies with the certification requirements of Rule 902(11) or (12). The proponent must also meet the notice requirements of Rule 902(11).

(14) CERTIFIED DATA COPIED FROM AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE, STORAGE MEDIUM, OR FILE. Data copied from an electronic device, storage medium, or file, if authenticated by a process of digital identification, as shown by a certification of a qualified person that complies with the certification requirements of Rule 902(11) or (12). The proponent also must meet the notice requirements of Rule 902(11). [Amended 8-15-2013, eff. 10-1-2013; Amended eff. 1-30-2020.]

Committee Notes

Advisory Committee’s Notes Rule 901 sets out the foundations that must be established, through extrinsic proof, to authenticate or identify evidence. Some items of evidence, however, are self-authenticating, meaning that no extrinsic proof is necessary to authenticate or identify them. A self- authenticating document is said to be genuine on its face. Instances of such self-authentication have been developed historically by case law, statute, and rule of court. Rule 902 undertakes to collect and incorporate these instances, with some incidental expansion. See Fed.R.Evid. 902 advisory committee’s note. Satisfaction of any self-authentication method contained in Rule 902 does not guarantee genuineness. Consequently, nothing in Rule 902 is intended to preclude the offering party’s opponent from disputing authenticity. Any document or record offered under Rule 902 must satisfy other evidentiary concerns, such as the hearsay rule and the best evidence rule. See, e.g., Ala.R.Evid. 803(8) (public records exception to the hearsay rule); Ala.R.Evid. 1005 (public records exception to the best evidence rule). Paragraph (1). Domestic public documents under seal. This rule provides self- authentication for any domestic public document that bears a seal purporting to be that of the United States, any state or other domestic political entity or any subdivision thereof (as well as any territory or insular possession of the United States, or the Panama Canal Zone, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands), including any subdivision, department, officer, or agency thereof. In addition to the required governmental seal, such a self-authenticating document must carry a signature purporting to be an attestation or execution. The nearest comparable provision under preexisting Alabama law is found in Rule 44(a)(1) of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure. It and this Rule 902 use identical language to describe the political entities whose official records are accorded self-authenticat