{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/8.01-400.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/8.01-400.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/8.01-400.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/8.01-400.html"}],"law_id":61689,"edition_id":1,"section_id":61689,"structure_id":13957,"section_number":"8.01-400","catch_line":"Communications between ministers of religion and persons they counsel or advise (Supreme Court Rule 2:503 derived in part from this section)","history":"Code 1950, \u00a7 8-289.2; 1962, c. 466; 1977, c. 617; 1979, c. 3; 1994, c. 198.","full_text":"No regular minister, priest, rabbi, or accredited practitioner over the age of eighteen years, of any religious organization or denomination usually referred to as a church, shall be required to give testimony as a witness or to relinquish notes, records or any written documentation made by such person, or disclose the contents of any such notes, records or written documentation, in discovery proceedings in any civil action which would disclose any information communicated to him in a confidential manner, properly entrusted to him in his professional capacity and necessary to enable him to discharge the functions of his office according to the usual course of his practice or discipline, wherein such person so communicating such information about himself or another is seeking spiritual counsel and advice relative to and growing out of the information so imparted.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":225256,"text":"No regular minister, priest, rabbi, or accredited practitioner over the age of eighteen years, of any religious organization or denomination usually referred to as a church, shall be required to give testimony as a witness or to relinquish notes, records or any written documentation made by such person, or disclose the contents of any such notes, records or written documentation, in discovery proceedings in any civil action which would disclose any information communicated to him in a confidential manner, properly entrusted to him in his professional capacity and necessary to enable him to discharge the functions of his office according to the usual course of his practice or discipline, wherein such person so communicating such information about himself or another is seeking spiritual counsel and advice relative to and growing out of the information so imparted.","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1}},"ancestry":[{"id":13957,"edition_id":1,"name":"Witnesses Generally","identifier":"4","label":"article","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12870,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:46:25","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:46:25","permalink":{"id":277427,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":13957,"identifier":"4","token":"8.01\/14\/4","url":"\/8.01\/14\/4\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12870,"edition_id":1,"name":"Evidence","identifier":"14","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12747,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:57","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:57","permalink":{"id":277357,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12870,"identifier":"14","token":"8.01\/14","url":"\/8.01\/14\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12747,"edition_id":1,"name":"Civil Remedies and Procedure","identifier":"8.01","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":277029,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12747,"identifier":"8.01","token":"8.01","url":"\/8.01\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":74141,"structure_id":13957,"section_number":"8.01-396","catch_line":"No person incompetent to testify by reason of interest, or because a party","url":"\/8.01-396\/","token":"8.01\/14\/4\/8.01-396","metadata":false},{"id":86691,"structure_id":13957,"section_number":"8.01-396.1","catch_line":"Competency of witness","url":"\/8.01-396.1\/","token":"8.01\/14\/4\/8.01-396.1","metadata":false},{"id":69399,"structure_id":13957,"section_number":"8.01-396.2","catch_line":"Minor witness; 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The record of this law\u2019s original creation isn\u2019t available online. It has been modified 4 times. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1962, chapter 466; in 1977, chapter 617; in 1979, chapter 3; in 1994, chapter 198<\/a>.<\/p>","references":[{"id":86098,"section_number":"63.2-1509","catch_line":"Requirement that certain injuries to children be reported by physicians, nurses, teachers, etc.; penalty for failure to report","order_by":null,"url":"\/63.2-1509\/"}],"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":277457,"object_type":"law","relational_id":61689,"identifier":"8.01-400","token":"8.01\/14\/4\/8.01-400","url":"\/8.01-400\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/8.01-400\/","token":"8.01\/14\/4\/8.01-400","dublin_core":{"Title":"Communications between ministers of religion and persons they counsel or advise (Supreme Court Rule 2:503 derived in part from this section)","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 8.01-400","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

No regular minister, priest, rabbi, or accredited practitioner over the age of eighteen years, of any religious organization or denomination usually referred to as a church, shall be required to give testimony<\/span> as a witness<\/span> or to relinquish notes, records or any written documentation made by such person<\/span>, or disclose the contents of any such notes, records or written documentation, in discovery<\/span> proceedings in any civil action<\/span> which would disclose any information communicated to him in a confidential manner, properly entrusted to him in his professional capacity and necessary to enable him to discharge the functions of his office according to the usual course of his practice or discipline, wherein such person<\/span> so communicating such information about himself or another is seeking spiritual counsel<\/span> and advice relative to and growing out of the information so imparted.<\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nCOMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN MINISTERS OF RELIGION AND PERSONS THEY COUNSEL OR ADVISE\n(SUPREME COURT RULE 2:503 DERIVED IN PART FROM THIS SECTION) (\u00a7 8.01-400)\n\nNo regular minister, priest, rabbi, or accredited practitioner over the age of\neighteen years, of any religious organization or denomination usually referred\nto as a church, shall be required to give testimony as a witness or to\nrelinquish notes, records or any written documentation made by such person, or\ndisclose the contents of any such notes, records or written documentation, in\ndiscovery proceedings in any civil action which would disclose any information\ncommunicated to him in a confidential manner, properly entrusted to him in his\nprofessional capacity and necessary to enable him to discharge the functions of\nhis office according to the usual course of his practice or discipline, wherein\nsuch person so communicating such information about himself or another is\nseeking spiritual counsel and advice relative to and growing out of the\ninformation so imparted.\n\nHISTORY: Code 1950, \u00a7 8-289.2; 1962, c. 466; 1977, c. 617; 1979, c. 3; 1994, c.\n198.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}