# Conn. Code Evid. Sec. 2-1: Sec. 2-1. Judicial Notice of Adjudicative Facts

> Connecticut · Court rules · In force

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/SRULES_CT_EVID_R2_1

## Section

- **Citation:** Conn. Code Evid. Sec. 2-1
- **Heading:** Sec. 2-1. Judicial Notice of Adjudicative Facts
- **Jurisdiction:** Connecticut
- **Kind:** Court rules
- **Status:** In force
- **Text as of:** August 14, 2026
- **Source:** Compiled text
- **Location:** Connecticut Court Rules / Connecticut Code of Evidence / Conn. Code Evid. Sec. 2-1

## Text

(a) Scope of section. This section governs only
judicial notice of adjudicative facts.
(b) Taking of judicial notice. A court may, but
is not required to, take notice of matters of fact,
in accordance with subsection (c).
(c) Kinds of facts. A judicially noticed fact must
be one not subject to reasonable dispute in that
it is either (1) within the knowledge of people gen­
erally in the ordinary course of human experience,
or (2) generally accepted as true and capable of
ready and unquestionable demonstration.
(d) Time of taking judicial notice. Judicial
notice may be taken at any stage of the proceeding.

COMMENTARY
(a) Scope of section.
Section 2-1 addresses the principle of judicial notice, which
relieves a party from producing formal evidence to prove a
fact. E.g., Beardsley v. Irving, 81 Conn. 489, 491, 71 A. 580
(1909); Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Napert-Boyer Partnership, 40 Conn. App. 434, 441, 671 A.2d 1303 (1996). Section
2-1 deals only with judicial notice of ‘‘adjudicative’’ facts. Adju­
dicative facts are the facts of a particular case or those facts
that relate to the activities or events giving rise to the particular
controversy. See Moore v. Moore, 173 Conn. 120, 122, 376
A.2d 1085 (1977); K. Davis, ‘‘Judicial Notice,’’ 55 Colum. L.
Rev. 945, 952 (1955).
This section does not deal with judicial notice of ‘‘legislative’’
facts, i.e., facts that do not necessarily concern the parties in
a particular case but that courts consider in determining the
constitutionality or interpretation of statutes or issues of public
policy upon which the application of a common-law rule
depends. See Moore v. Moore, supra, 173 Conn. 122; K.
Davis, supra, 55 Colum. L. Rev. 952. The Code leaves judicial
notice of legislative facts to common law.
(b) Taking of judicial notice.
Subsection (b) expresses the common-law view that
‘‘[c]ourts are not bound to take judicial notice of matters of
fact.’’ DeLuca v. Park Commissioners, 94 Conn. 7, 10, 107
A. 611 (1919).
a common-law rule
depends. See Moore v. Moore, supra, 173 Conn. 122; K.
Davis, supra, 55 Colum. L. Rev. 952. The Code leaves judicial
notice of legislative facts to common law.
(b) Taking of judicial notice.
Subsection (b) expresses the common-law view that
‘‘[c]ourts are not bound to take judicial notice of matters of
fact.’’ DeLuca v. Park Commissioners, 94 Conn. 7, 10, 107
A. 611 (1919).
(c) Kinds of facts.
Subsection (c) is consistent with common-law principles of
judicial notice. See, e.g., West Hartford v. Freedom of Informa­
tion Commission, 218 Conn. 256, 264, 588 A.2d 1368 (1991);
State v. Tomanelli, 153 Conn. 365, 369, 216 A.2d 625 (1966).
Both the fact that raw pork must be cooked thoroughly to
kill parasites; see Silverman v. Swift & Co., 141 Conn. 450,
458, 107 A.2d 277 (1954); and the fact that the normal period
of human gestation is nine months; Melanson v. Rogers, 38
Conn. Supp. 484, 490–91, 451 A.2d 825 (1982); constitute
examples of facts subject to judicial notice under category
(1). Examples of category (2) facts include: scientific tests
or principles; State v. Tomanelli, supra, 153 Conn. 370–71;
geographical data; e.g., Nesko Corp. v. Fontaine, 19 Conn.
Supp. 160, 162, 110 A.2d 631 (1954); historical facts; Gannon
v. Gannon, 130 Conn. 449, 452, 35 A.2d 204 (1943); and
times and dates. E.g., Patterson v. Dempsey, 152 Conn. 431,
435, 207 A.2d 739 (1965).
Within category (2), the court may take judicial notice of the
existence, content and legal effect of a court file, or of a specific
entry in a court file if that specific entry is brought to the
attention of the court, subject to the provisions of Section 2-
2. Judicial notice of a court file or a specific entry in a court
file does not establish the truth of any fact stated in that court
file. The rules governing hearsay and its exceptions determine
the admissibility of court records for the truth of their content.
See Fox v. Schaeffer, 131 Conn. 439, 447, 41 A.2d 46 (1944);
see also O’Connor v
the court, subject to the provisions of Section 2-
2. Judicial notice of a court file or a specific entry in a court
file does not establish the truth of any fact stated in that court
file. The rules governing hearsay and its exceptions determine
the admissibility of court records for the truth of their content.
See Fox v. Schaeffer, 131 Conn. 439, 447, 41 A.2d 46 (1944);
see also O’Connor v. Larocque, 302 Conn. 562, 568 n.6, 31
A.3d 1 (2011).
Although a judicially noticed fact is one not subject to reason-
able dispute, the trier of fact in a criminal case is not required
to accept the fact as conclusive. See State v. Tomanelli, supra,
153 Conn. 369; see also Fed. R. Evid. 201 (f). Other parties
may offer evidence in disproof of a fact judicially noticed in a
criminal case. See State v. Tomanelli, supra, 369. In a civil
case, the jury must accept the noticed fact as conclusive. See
Fed. R. Evid. 201 (f). The effect of this rule is to reject dictum
to the contrary found in Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Napert-
Boyer Partnership, supra, 40 Conn. App. 441, and to bring
the rule into harmony with the Federal Rules of Evidence and
the Connecticut civil jury instructions.
(d) Time of taking judicial notice.
Subsection (d) adheres to common-law principles. Drabik
v. East Lyme, 234 Conn. 390, 398, 662 A.2d 118 (1995); State
v. Allen, 205 Conn. 370, 382, 533 A.2d 559 (1987). The Code
does not govern the taking of judicial notice on appeal.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/SRULES_CT_EVID_R2_1. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.