The Supreme Court has adopted a new Rule of Evidence 413 that would allow evidence of immigration status to be used only if relevant to an element of an action or defense, or to a party’s or witness’s motive. “Order Approving the Adoption of Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 413; No. 878 Supreme Court Rules Doc.” (8/1/2021), 51 Pa.B. 5192 (8/21/2021).

The Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Evidence had proposed this new rule in September of 2020.

[Note: The order adopting the new rule was republished at 51 Pa.B. 6140 (9/25/2021) because the original publication assigned the rule to the wrong title of the Pa. Code.]