Pennsylvania Code
Pennsylvania Code & Bulletin
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

• No statutes or acts will be found at this website.

The Pennsylvania Bulletin website includes the following: Rulemakings by State agencies; Proposed Rulemakings by State agencies; State agency notices; the Governor’s Proclamations and Executive Orders; Actions by the General Assembly; and Statewide and local court rules.

PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 97-1443

THE COURTS

Title 210--APPELLATE PROCEDURE

PART I.  RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE

[210 PA. CODE CH. 17]

Amendment to Note to Pa.R.A.P. 1701; No. 109; Doc. No. 1

[27 Pa.B. 4543]

Order

Per Curiam:

   And Now, this 22nd day of August, 1997, the amendment to the Note to Rule 1701 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure is adopted as follows.

   This order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. 103(b) and shall become effective on January 1, 1998.

Annex A

TITLE 210.  APPELLATE PROCEDURE

PART I.  RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE

ARTICLE II.  APPELLATE PROCEDURE

CHAPTER 17.  EFFECT OF APPEALS; SUPERSEDEAS AND STAYS

IN GENERAL

Rule 1701.  Effect of Appeal Generally.

*      *      *      *      *

   (d)  ***

   Official Note: The following statutory provisions relate to supersedeas generally:

*      *      *      *      *

   Generally an appeal does not operate as a supersedeas of government agency action.

   [Rule 5102 of these rules saves the provisions of the last sentence of Section 423 of the Public Welfare Code (62 P. S. § 423), which provides that an appeal operates as a supersedeas in certain public assistance matters and Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (43 P. S. § 959), which provides that an appeal from an order of the Commission operates as a supersedeas.]

   Subdivision (b)(3) is intended to handle the troublesome question of the effect of application for reconsideration on the appeal process. The rule (1) permits the trial court or other government unit to grant reconsideration if action is taken during the applicable appeal period, which is not intended to include the appeal period for cross appeals, or, during any shorter applicable reconsideration period under the practice below, and (2)  eliminates the possibility that the power to grant reconsideration could be foreclosed by the taking of a ''snap'' appeal. The better procedure under this rule will be for a party seeking reconsideration to file an application for reconsideration below and a notice of appeal, etc. If the application lacks merit the trial court or other government unit may deny the application by the entry of an order to that effect or by inaction. The prior appeal paper will remain in effect, and appeal will have been taken without the necessity to watch the calendar for the running of the appeal period. If the trial court or other government unit fails to enter an order ''expressly granting reconsideration'' (an order that ''all proceedings shall stay'' will not suffice) within the time prescribed by these rules for seeking review, Subdivision (a) becomes applicable and the power of the trial court or other government unit to act on the application for reconsideration is lost.

   Subdivision (b)(3) provides that: ''(W)here a timely order of reconsideration is entered under this paragraph, the time for filing a notice of appeal or petition for review begins to run anew after entry of the decision on reconsideration.'' Pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1930.2, effective July 1, 1994, where reconsideration from a domestic relations order has been timely granted, a reconsidered decision or an order directing additional testimony must be entered within 120 days of the entry of the order granting reconsideration or the motion shall be deemed denied. See Pa.R.C.P. 1930.2(c), (d) and (e). The date from which the appeal period will be measured following a reconsidered decision in a domestic relations matter is governed by Pa.R.C.P. 1930.2(d) and (e).

   Under the 1996 amendments to the Rules of Criminal Procedure governing post-sentence practice, see Pa.R.Crim.P. 1410 and 1411, reconsideration of a decision on a defendant's post-sentence motion or on a Commonwealth motion to modify sentence must take place within the time limits set by those rules, and the judge may not vacate sentence or ''grant reconsideration'' pursuant to subdivision (b)(3) in order to extend the time limits for disposition of those motions. The amendments to Pa.R.Crim.P. 1410 and new Pa.Crim.P. 1411 resolve questions raised about the interplay between this subdivision and post-trial criminal practice. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Corson, 444 A.2d 170 (Pa. Super, 1982).

   [Subdivision (b)(4) is based on the Act of March 26, 1827 (P. L. 131, No. 61) (9 Sm.L. 308, Ch. 5936) (28 P. S. §§ 2 and 3), which is suspended absolutely by these rules.

   Subdivision (c) is based on the last sentence of Act of May 19, 1897 (P. L. 67, No. 53), § 176 (12 P. S. § 1154), which is suspended absolutely by these rules, and makes no change in substance.

   See Pa.R.Crim.P. 1410 regarding motion to modify sentence and comment thereto containing an alert that the sentencing court is likely to have only thirty days from the imposition of sentence within which to act to modify the sentence.]

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 97-1443. Filed for public inspection September 5, 1997, 9:00 a.m.]


No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.