§ 8.01-412.2.Authorization of audio-visual deposition; official record; uses.

This section opens Virginia’s version of the Uniform Audio-Visual Deposition Act, and it starts by giving parties a real choice about how to capture deposition testimony. Any deposition may be recorded by audio-visual means, and it does not need a stenographic record alongside it to count. If a party wants a stenographic or audio backup anyway, that party can arrange it — at that party’s own expense — and any party can request a copy of the audio-visual recording, also at that party’s expense.

The recording itself carries full legal weight. It is the official record of the deposition, on equal footing with a court reporter’s transcript when one exists, and it can be used for any purpose and under any circumstances that a traditional stenographic deposition could be used — at trial, for impeachment, or otherwise.

The section also future-proofs its own terminology: “audio-visual,” for purposes of this entire article, includes video conferencing and teleconferencing, not just recorded playback. That definition matters as depositions increasingly happen over remote video platforms rather than in a single room.