To the extent authorized by the chapter governing any particular discovery method or any other provision of this title, the court, after notice to any affected party, person, or attorney, and after opportunity for hearing, may impose the following sanctions against anyone engaging in conduct that is a misuse of the discovery process:
§ 2023.030.030
Title 4. Civil Discovery Act · Chapter 7. Sanctions · Last amended 2012 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2023.030 lists the sanctions a court may impose for misuse of the discovery process when another statute authorizes them, monetary, issue, evidence, terminating, and contempt sanctions, makes monetary sanctions mandatory absent substantial justification, and shields parties from sanctions over electronically stored information lost through routine, good-faith system operation.
Full Text of § 2023.030
(a) The court may impose a monetary sanction ordering that one engaging in the misuse of the discovery process, or any attorney advising that conduct, or both pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred by anyone as a result of that conduct. The court may also impose this sanction on one unsuccessfully asserting that another has engaged in the misuse of the discovery process, or on any attorney who advised that assertion, or on both. If a monetary sanction is authorized by any provision of this title, the court shall impose that sanction unless it finds that the one subject to the sanction acted with substantial justification or that other circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust.
(b) The court may impose an issue sanction ordering that designated facts shall be taken as established in the action in accordance with the claim of the party adversely affected by the misuse of the discovery process. The court may also impose an issue sanction by an order prohibiting any party engaging in the misuse of the discovery process from supporting or opposing designated claims or defenses.
(c) The court may impose an evidence sanction by an order prohibiting any party engaging in the misuse of the discovery process from introducing designated matters in evidence.
(d) The court may impose a terminating sanction by one of the following orders:
(1) An order striking out the pleadings or parts of the pleadings of any party engaging in the misuse of the discovery process.
(2) An order staying further proceedings by that party until an order for discovery is obeyed.
(3) An order dismissing the action, or any part of the action, of that party.
WESTLAW © 2026 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 1 § 2023.030. Monetary sanctions; issue sanctions; evidence sanctions; terminating sanctions;..., CA CIV PRO § 2023.030
(4) An order rendering a judgment by default against that party.
(e) The court may impose a contempt sanction by an order treating the misuse of the discovery process as a contempt of court.
(f) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), or any other section of this title, absent exceptional circumstances, the court shall not impose sanctions on a party or any attorney of a party for failure to provide electronically stored information that has been lost, damaged, altered, or overwritten as the result of the routine, good faith operation of an electronic information system.
(2) This subdivision shall not be construed to alter any obligation to preserve discoverable information.
Plain-English Summary
This section is the menu a court draws from once some other provision of the discovery statutes says a particular misuse can be sanctioned. It does not, by itself, hand a court free-floating power to punish discovery misconduct; the opening clause limits it to sanctions authorized "by the chapter governing any particular discovery method or any other provision of this title," imposed only after notice to the affected party or attorney and an opportunity for a hearing.
The list runs in rough order of severity. A monetary sanction orders payment of the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, that the misuse caused, and it is the one sanction the section makes mandatory: once some other provision authorizes it, the court must impose it unless the party being sanctioned acted with substantial justification or the court finds the sanction would otherwise be unjust. An issue sanction takes a disputed fact off the table, deeming it established against the party who misused discovery, or barring that party from supporting or opposing a particular claim or defense. An evidence sanction blocks the offending party from introducing specific evidence at all. A terminating sanction is the most severe response short of contempt: it can strike a party's pleadings, stay the case against that party until discovery is obeyed, dismiss the action, or even enter a default judgment against the offending party. Contempt treats the misuse as an affront to the court itself.
Subdivision (f) adds a narrower, more recent protection modeled on the reality of automated recordkeeping: absent exceptional circumstances, a court may not sanction a party or attorney for electronically stored information lost, damaged, altered, or overwritten through the routine, good-faith operation of an electronic system. That protection does not excuse a party from any separate obligation to preserve information once litigation is reasonably anticipated; it only shields losses that happen through ordinary system operation rather than through a deliberate or careless failure to stop that operation when preservation duties kick in.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the categories of discovery sanctions listed in Section 2023.030?
Monetary sanctions, issue sanctions, evidence sanctions, terminating sanctions (which can include striking pleadings, staying proceedings, dismissal, or default judgment), and contempt sanctions.
Is a monetary sanction mandatory once a misuse of discovery is found?
Yes, if some other provision of the discovery statutes authorizes it for that misuse, unless the party being sanctioned acted with substantial justification or the court finds imposing it would be unjust.
What is a terminating sanction, and how severe is it?
It is the harshest sanction short of contempt, allowing a court to strike a party's pleadings, stay the case against that party, dismiss the action, or enter a default judgment.
Does Section 2023.030 itself authorize a court to impose these sanctions in any case involving a discovery dispute?
No. It supplies the menu of available sanctions, but a court may only draw on it when some other provision governing the particular discovery method or motion authorizes that sanction, and only after notice and an opportunity for a hearing.
Can a party be sanctioned for losing electronically stored information through routine computer operation?
Generally no. Absent exceptional circumstances, subdivision (f) protects a party or attorney from sanctions for information lost through the routine, good-faith operation of an electronic system, though this does not excuse a separate duty to preserve information once it applies.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2004, c. 182 (A.B.3081), § 23, operative July 1, 2005. Amended by Stats.2012, c. 72 (S.B.1574), § 19.)
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the West's Annotated California Codes / Thomson Reuters. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: ccp 2023.030 discovery sanctions menuterminating sanction discovery californiaevidence sanction issue sanction monetary sanctionesi routine deletion sanction safe harbor