Annual Survey of Virginia Law: Evidence

In terms of evidence legislation, the most significant development of the past year may be what did not happen in Virginia. In late 1987 the Supreme Court of Virginia, following a long period of careful study, recommended against the adoption of a statutory code of evidence for Virginia. In announcing the court's conclusion, Chief Justice Carrico cited a passage from the 1987 Annual Survey of VirginiaLaw, which stated: "When it comes to the formulation of rules of evidence, the common-law system of judge-made rules, supplemented by a steady flow of case opinions from competent appellate courts, is far superior to any other system of evidence." Virginia will therefore apparently retain its traditional common- law system of evidence law for the immediate future.