Pen. Code, § 1054 · Chapter 10. Discovery
Pen. Code, § 1054
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
This chapter shall be interpreted to give effect to all of the following purposes:
(a) To promote the ascertainment of truth in trials by requiring timely pretrial discovery.
(b) To save court time by requiring that discovery be conducted informally between and among the parties before judicial enforcement is requested.
(c) To save court time in trial and avoid the necessity for frequent interruptions and postponements.
(d) To protect victims and witnesses from danger, harassment, and undue delay of the proceedings.
(e) To provide that no discovery shall occur in criminal cases except as provided by this chapter, other express statutory provisions, or as mandated by the Constitution of the United States.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added June 5, 1990, by initiative Proposition 115.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=1054.
- Text hash
- sha256 9d0fbed85643a8be9fc65d14ff7958aa362d6a59c5b8eb51e40c75a25ca1bdea
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.