RULE 614. CALLING AND INTERROGATION OF WITNESSES BY COURT
Effective Date: 6/3/1976
Obsolete Date: 3/1/2014
(a) Calling by Court. The court, on its own motion or at the suggestion of a party, may call witnesses, and all parties are entitled to cross-examine witnesses thus called.
(b) Interrogation by Court. The court may interrogate witnesses, whether called by itself or by a party.
(c) Objections. Objections to the calling of witnesses by the court or to interrogation by it or to specific questions by it may be made at the time or at the next available opportunity when the jury is not present.
Rule 614 was amended, effective March 1, 2014.
This rule is based on Fed.R.Ev. 614.
Rule 614 provides that objections to interrogation by the court or to the calling of a witness by the court may be made out of the jury's presence so as to avoid any possible prejudice to the objecting party.
Rule 614 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 27; June 3, 1976, page 5; October 1, 1975, page 6. Fed.R.Ev. 614; Rule 614, SBAND proposal.
Cross Reference: N.D.R.Crim.P. 28 (Interpreters).