                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CERTAIN JUDICIAL OFFICERS INCOMPETENT TO TESTIFY UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES;
EXCEPTIONS (SUPREME COURT RULE 2:605 DERIVED FROM THIS SECTION) (§ 19.2-271)

No judge shall be competent to testify in any criminal or civil proceeding as to
any matter which came before him in the course of his official duties.
		Except as otherwise provided in this section, no clerk of any court,
magistrate, or other person having the power to issue warrants, shall be
competent to testify in any criminal or civil proceeding as to any matter which
came before him in the course of his official duties. Such person shall be
competent to testify in any criminal proceeding wherein the defendant is charged
with perjury or pursuant to the provisions of § 18.2-460 or in any proceeding
authorized pursuant to § 19.2-353.3. Notwithstanding any other provision of
this section, any judge, clerk of any court, magistrate, or other person having
the power to issue warrants, who is the victim of a crime, shall not be
incompetent solely because of his office to testify in any criminal or civil
proceeding arising out of the crime.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 19.1-267, 19.1-268; 1960, c. 366; 1975, c. 495; 1976,
c. 269; 1989, c. 738; 1990, c. 602; 2015, c. 635.