The Uniform Unsworn Foreign Declarations Act (2008) permits unsworn declarations to be used in state court proceedings instead of affidavits where the witness is physically located outside of the United States.
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The Uniform Unsworn Foreign Declarations Act was drafted by the Uniform Law Committee. It is intended to alleviate difficulties which foreign affiants have experienced in accessing US consular offices to have affidavits witnessed. Access to these offices was substantially tightened after the September 11 terrorists attacks, making what was a routine process much more difficult.
The Uniform Act provides that if an unsworn declaration is made subject to penalties for perjury and contains the information in the model form provided in the Uniform Act, then the unsworn declaration may be used in a state court as the equivalent of an affidavit.
The Uniform Act aligns the procedure in state courts with the procedure which has been used in federal courts since 1976 in relation to taking evidence from witnesses are outside the United States (under 28 USC § 1746).
It is necessary for a state legislature to enact the Uniform Unsworn Foreign Declarations Act in order for the Uniform Act to apply in that state. As at 2016, the states which have enacted the Uniform Act are:
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Washington
- Wisconsin
In 2016 the Uniform Act was also introduced into the state legislatures of Massachusetts and Nebraska. If the Uniform Act has not been enacted in a state, then an unsworn declaration under the Uniform Act must not be used in lieu of an affidavit for witnesses on foreign soil. In some cases where the Uniform Act has not been enacted, the state may have its own procedures regarding the evidence of witnesses taken overseas.
A map showing the current enactment status of the Uniform Unsworn Foreign Declarations Act is below.
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