Witnesses Generally

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This is Article 4 of the Code of Virginia, titled “Witnesses Generally.” It is part of Chapter 14 “Evidence”, which is part of Title 8.01 “Civil Remedies and Procedure”.

It’s comprised of the following 20 sections.

§ 8.01-396 No person incompetent to testify by reason of interest, or because a party
§ 8.01-396.1 Competency of witness
§ 8.01-396.2 Minor witness; appointment of guardian ad litem
§ 8.01-397 Corroboration required and evidence receivable when one party incapable of testifying (subdivision (b)(5) of Supreme Court Rule 2:804 derived from this section)
§ 8.01-397.1 Evidence of habit or routine practice; defined (Supreme Court Rule 2:406 derived from this section)
§ 8.01-398 Privileged marital communications (Subsection (a) of Supreme Court Rule 2:504 derived from this section)
§ 8.01-399 Communications between physicians and patients (Supreme Court Rule 2:505 derived from this section)
§ 8.01-400 Communications between ministers of religion and persons they counsel or advise (Supreme Court Rule 2:503 derived in part from this section)
§ 8.01-400.1 Privileged communications by interpreters for the deaf (Supreme Court Rule 2:507 derived in part from this section)
§ 8.01-400.2 Communications between certain mental health professionals and clients (Supreme Court Rule 2:506 derived from this section)
§ 8.01-401 How adverse party may be examined; effect of refusal to testify (subsection (b) of Supreme Court Rule 2:607 and subsection (c) of Supreme Court Rule 2:611 derived from subsection A of this section)
§ 8.01-401.1 Opinion testimony by experts; hearsay exception (subsection (a) of Supreme Court Rule 2:703, subsection (a) of Supreme Court Rule 2:705, and subsection (a) of Supreme Court Rule 2:706 derived from this section)
§ 8.01-401.2 Chiropractor, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, or optometrist as expert witness
§ 8.01-401.2:1 Podiatrist as an expert witness
§ 8.01-401.3 Opinion testimony and conclusions as to facts critical to civil case resolution (Supreme Court Rule 2:701 derived from subsection B of this section, subdivision (a)(i) of Supreme Court Rule 2:702 derived from subsection A of this section, and subsection (a) of Supreme Court Rule 2:704 derived from subsections B and C of this section)
§ 8.01-402 Members of Department of Motor Vehicles' Crash Investigation Team not to be required to give evidence in certain cases
§ 8.01-403 Witness proving adverse; contradiction; prior inconsistent statement (Subsection (c) of Supreme Court Rule 2:607 and subdivision (a)(i) of Supreme Court Rule 2:613 derived from this section)
§ 8.01-404 Contradiction by prior inconsistent writing (Subdivision (b)(i) of Supreme Court Rule 2:613 derived in part from this section and subdivision (b)(ii) of Supreme Court Rule 2:613 derived from this section)
§ 8.01-405 Who may administer oath to witness
§ 8.01-406 Interpreters; recording testimony of deaf witness (Supreme Court Rule 2:604 derived from this section)