The Illinois Supreme Court updated the Illinois Rules of Evidence on Sept. 28, including provisions that provide guidance for evidence derived from electronic sources.

Amendments to Rules 803(6), 803(7), and 803(8) clarify that the burden of showing “lack of trustworthiness” is on the party-opponent.

An additional amendment to Rule 803(8) allows for a hearsay exception in public records and reports for “factual findings” from a legally authorized investigation.

An amendment to Rule 803(16) makes an exception to the hearsay rule for statements in ancient documents that only applies to documents prepared before Jan. 1, 1998. The previous version of the rule applied to documents that had been in existence for 20 or more years. 

Finally, Rule 902 was amended to allow for self-authentication of certified records generated by an electronic process or system and allows for self-authentication of certified data copied from an electronic device, storage medium, or file.

The amended Rules are all effective immediately and are available online.