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N.D.R.Ev. 607

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

Rule 607 Who May Impeach a Witness

← Previous Rule 606: Juror's Competency as a Witness Next → Rule 608: A Witness's Character for Truthfulness or Untruthfulness

Rule Text

Any party, including the party that called the witness, may attack the witness's credibility.

Amendment history: (Adopted Mar. 1, 1990; 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.

Any side in a court case can challenge a witness's honesty or accuracy, even the side that called that witness to testify in the first place.

This matters because in the past, some courts made lawyers stick by whatever their own witness said, even if that witness gave surprising or damaging testimony. This rule gets rid of that problem. If a witness you called says something untrue, contradicts earlier statements, or turns out to be unreliable, you're free to point that out to the jury, just as the other side could.

In practice, this means no witness gets a free pass just because of who brought them into the case. Everyone's testimony can be questioned and tested, no matter which side put them on the stand.

Committee Notes

Rule 607 was amended, effective March 1, 1990; March 1, 2014.

This rule does away with the prohibition against impeaching one's own witness.

Rule 607 was amended, effective March 1, 1990. The amendment is technical in nature and no substantive change is intended.

Rule 607 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 24; March 24-25, 1988, page 12; December 3, 1987, page 15; April 8, 1976, page 27; January 29, 1976, page 13. Fed.R.Ev. 607; Rule 607, SBAND proposal.

Cross Reference: N.D.R.Ev. 404 (Character Evidence; Crimes or Other Acts), N.D.R.Ev. 608 (A Witness's Character for Truthfulness or Untruthfulness), N.D.R.Ev. 609 (Impeachment by Evidence of a Criminal Conviction), N.D.R.Civ.P. 43 (Evidence).

← Previous Rule 606: Juror's Competency as a Witness Next → Rule 608: A Witness's Character for Truthfulness or Untruthfulness

Cross-References

Referenced By (1)

N.D.R.Ev. Rule 404

Bluebook Citation

N.D.R.Ev. 607

This Rule Set

View All N.D.R.Ev. Rules

Last updated: August 2026

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