Ala. R. Evid. 501
Except as otherwise provided by constitution or statute or by these or other rules promulgated by the Supreme Court of Alabama, no person has a privilege to:
Ala. R. Evid. 501
Advisory Committee's Notes
This introductory rule, serving as a preface to the evidentiary privileges, embraces the historic common law principle that no privilege exists where none has been granted. A party to a civil action, for example, generally has no privilege not to be a witness. Ala. Code 1975, § 12-21-163. See In re Sullivan, 283 Ala. 514, 219 So. 2d 346, cert. denied, Sullivan v. Board of Comm'rs, 396 U.S. 826 (1969). Additionally, a civil litigant has no general privilege to refuse to produce an object or a writing. Rarden v. Cunningham, 136 Ala. 263, 34 So. 26 (1903). Similarly, a witness has no common law privilege generally not to exhibit his or her body. King v. State, 100 Ala. 85, 14 So. 878 (1894); C. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence § 361.05 (4th ed. 1991). Generally, a witness has no privilege to refuse to answer a question on the ground that the answer would tend to be humiliating or degrading. Ex parte Boscowitz, 84 Ala. 462, 4 So. 279 (1888). One likewise, at least as a beginning principle, has no privilege to require that a communication not be disclosed merely because it was made or received in confidence. Phillips v. Alabama Dep't of Pensions & Sec., 394 So. 2d 51 (Ala. Civ. App. 1981 ). See C. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence § 386.01 (4th ed. 1991).
Despite this beginning no-privilege premise, the law grants privileges. Witnesses, for example, have a constitutional privilege against self-incrimination. International Bhd. of Teamsters v. Hatas, 287 Ala. 344, 252 So. 2d 7 (1971) (privilege of witnesses in civil actions). See C. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence § 373.01 (4th ed. 1991). An accused has a constitutional and statutory privilege not to be compelled to give incriminating evidence. U.S. Const. amend. V; Ala. Const. art. I, § 6 (1901); Ala. Code 1975, § 12-21-220. Additionally, privileges are provided in the rules following Rule 501 and in other rules promulgated by the Supreme Court of Alabama.
A prime example of a privilege existing outside these Alabama Rules of Evidence is the "work product" privilege found in Ala. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(3). See Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495 (1947); C. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence § 290.02(15) (4th ed. 1977). A number of statutory privileges will continue to exist outside these Rules of Evidence. See, e.g., Ala. Code 1975, §§ 32-7-12 (motor vehicle accident reports), 34-24-59(c) (hospital disciplinary action reports). See generally J. Colquitt, Alabama Law of Evidence § 5.1 (1990).
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