Fla. Stat. § 90.102 — Construction

The Florida Evidence Code shall be construed to secure fairness, promote the development of the law of evidence, and to the end that the truth may be ascertained and proceedings justly determined.

The Guiding Principle: This statute acts as the guiding star for the entire Florida Evidence Code. It instructs judges on the mindset they should have when interpreting and applying any of the other evidence rules.

The goal is not to apply the rules in a rigid, hyper-technical way that gets in the way of justice. Instead, judges must construe them with three main purposes in mind:

• Fairness: To make sure every proceeding is administered impartially.
• Efficiency: To avoid wasting time and money.
• Truth: To help evidence law evolve in a way that helps uncover the truth and leads to a just outcome.