What does the "business records" exception to the hearsay rule allow?

The business records exception to the hearsay rule allows for the admissibility of records that are kept systematically as part of the regular course of business. This exception is grounded in the idea that documents created in the course of regular business activities are reliable and trustworthy because they are made contemporaneously and are typically relied upon by businesses to conduct their affairs.

For a record to qualify as a "business record," it generally must meet certain criteria, such as being created at or near the time of the event it documents, being created by someone with knowledge of the event, and being maintained as part of the routine business operations. This enhances the credibility of the record, suggesting that such documentation serves as a reliable source of information about business transactions or operations.

Options like the admittance of hearsay statements by any person or the exclusion of all documents from business transactions do not align with the foundational principles of the business records exception, which specifically applies to systematic record-keeping within a business context, rather than allowing indiscriminate hearsay or excluding documents altogether. The notion that only the most recent records from a business would be admissible also misunderstands the exception, as it applies to records created throughout the course of business operations, not just the latest entries.