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N.D.R.Ev. 401

Not legal advice. Verify against official sources before relying on this text in any legal matter.

Rule 401 Test for Relevant Evidence

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Rule Text

Evidence is relevant if:

(a) it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence; and

(b) the fact is of consequence in determining the action.

Amendment history: (Adopted Apr. 8, 1976; amended Mar. 1, 2014.)

Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)

This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.

This rule explains what makes evidence "relevant" in a court case. Evidence counts as relevant if it helps prove or disprove something that actually matters to the case. It doesn't have to prove the point completely. It just needs to make a fact even slightly more or less likely to be true.

There are two parts to this test. First, the evidence has to actually connect to a fact somehow, making it more or less believable. Second, that fact has to matter to the outcome of the case. If a piece of evidence doesn't relate to anything the case depends on, it won't be considered relevant, even if it's interesting or true.

For example, if someone is accused of running a red light, evidence about the color of their car probably isn't relevant. It doesn't help prove whether they ran the light. But evidence about the timing of the traffic signal would be relevant, because it directly relates to a fact that matters in deciding the case.

Committee Notes

Rule 401 was amended, effective March 1, 2014.

The language of Rule 401 is intended to reflect the realization that stringent legal standards cannot be meaningfully applied to govern determinations of relevancy and, consequently, that the area is one best left to the wide discretion of the trial court.

Rule 401 was amended, effective March 1, 2014, in response to the December 1, 2011, revision of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. There is no intent to change any result in any ruling on evidence admissibility.

SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 26-27, 2012, page 13; April 8, 1976, page 19; October 1, 1975, page 3. Fed.R.Ev. 401; Rule 401, SBAND proposal.

← Previous Rule 303: Presumptions in Criminal Cases [Reserved] Next → Rule 402: General Admissibility of Relevant Evidence