Ponce - The fourth edition of the Puerto Rican Evidence Law Handbook, which presents information and doctrine on Puerto Rico's Rules of Evidence, is now available. This was announced by Rolando Emmanuelli Jiménez, Esq., author of the publication, which discusses in detail the 2010 Rules of Evidence, which determine what happens during trials in Puerto Rico's courts.

 

The first edition of the Handbook was published in 1994 and was awarded Legal Work of the Year in 1995 by the Puerto Rico Bar Association. The second edition was published in 2005 and included amendments to the Rules of Evidence made up to 2004. The third edition, published in 2010, included the new Rules of Evidence that are currently in force. In this fourth edition, published in 2015, the text has been updated with case law from the past five years, and comments and analysis have been added on the experience of applying the new Rules during their first five years in force.

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The Puerto Rican Evidence Law Handbook is used as a textbook in law schools and universities offering pre-law and forensic science courses in Puerto Rico. It has also been cited as an authority on numerous occasions in the judgments and opinions of the Courts of First Instance, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.

 

The third edition has 660 pages and contains all the information necessary to understand evidence law in Puerto Rico, particularly as it emerges with the new Rules of Evidence of 2010.

 

The book begins with an introduction on the process of drafting and approving the new 2010 Rules, followed by a definition of the concepts, along with a description of the judicial process and forensic practice up to the time of trial. It continues with a brief history of Evidence Law and the main sources and foundations of this subject in Puerto Rico. It sets out the new Rules, following the format of the Report of the Permanent Advisory Committee on Rules of Evidence of the Supreme Court regarding the origin of each rule, also establishing the differences with the original 1979 rules. Finally, it addresses the fundamental doctrinal and jurisprudential aspects and the corresponding criticisms in order to promote future improvements.

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The book can be purchased at Biblio Services in San Juan (new location) at 399 Muñoz Rivera Avenue (Marginal corner of Eleonor Roosevelt) and at Paseo del Sur Mall in Ponce. For more information, please call (787) 753-1231 or (787) 290-0077.