THE COURTS
Title 201—RULES OF
JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION
[ 201 PA. CODE CH. 1 ]
Order Amending Rules 101 and 103 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration; No. 552 Judicial Administration Doc.
[51 Pa.B. 3440]
[Saturday, June 26, 2021]
Order Per Curiam
And Now, this 10th day of June, 2021, the proposal having been published for public comment at 49 Pa.B. 4809 (August 24, 2019), it is Ordered pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that Rules 101 and 103 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration are amended in the following form.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and shall be effective on October 1, 2021.
Annex A
TITLE 201. RULES OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS Rule 101. Title and citation of rules.
These rules shall be known as the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration and may be cited as ''Pa.R.J.A. [No.] .''
Rule 103. Procedure for [adoption] adopting, filing, and publishing rules.
(a) Notice of proposed rulemaking.
(1) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(3), the initial [recommendation of a proposed rule, or proposed amendment] proposal of a new or amended rule, including [the explanatory note] any commentary that is to accompany the rule text, shall be distributed by the proposing Rules Committee to the Pennsylvania Bulletin for publication therein. The proposal shall include a publication [notification shall contain] notice containing a statement to the effect that [comments] written responses regarding the proposed rule or amendment are invited and should be sent directly to the proposing Rules Committee within a specified period of time, and a publication report from the Rules Committee containing the rationale for the proposed rulemaking.
(2) Written [comments, suggestions or objections] responses relating to the [proposed rule or amendment] proposal shall be sent directly to the proposing Rules Committee within a specified number of days after the publication of the rule or amendment in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, and any [such commentary] written responses shall be reviewed by the said Committee prior to action on the proposal by the Supreme Court. Any further proposals which are based upon the [commentary] written responses so received need not be, but may be, published in the manner prescribed in subdivision (a)(1).
(3) A proposed rule or amendment may be promulgated even though it has not been previously distributed and published in the manner required by subdivisions (a)(1) and (a)(2), where exigent circumstances require the immediate adoption of the proposal; or where the proposed amendment is of a typographical or perfunctory nature; or where in the discretion of the Supreme Court such action is otherwise required in the interests of justice or efficient administration.
(b) Rules adopted or amended by the Supreme Court.
(1) Rules adopted or amended by the Supreme Court, and any adoption report of the Rules Committee, shall be filed in the office of the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court.
(2) After an order adopting a rule or amendment has been filed with the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court, the Prothonotary shall forward a certified copy of the order [and], rule or amendment, and any adoption report to:
(i) The publisher of the official version of Supreme Court decisions and opinions who shall cause it to be printed in the first available volume of the State Reports.
[(ii) The prothonotaries or clerks of all courts, which may be affected thereby, and thereupon the order and rule or amendment shall be published by such prothonotaries or clerks in the same manner as local rules adopted by such courts.
(iii)] (ii) The Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
[(iv)] (iii) The Administrative Office.
* * * * * (d) Rules of procedure adopted by other courts of the System.
(8) No pleading or other legal paper shall be refused for filing based upon a requirement of a local rule. No case shall be dismissed nor request for relief granted or denied because of failure to initially comply with a local rule. In any case of noncompliance with a local rule, the court shall alert the party to the specific provision at issue and provide a reasonable time for the party to comply with the local rule.
[Official Note:] Comment
Effective October 1, 2021, ''rule'' includes the rule text and any accompanying commentary such as a note or comment. Such commentary, while not binding, may be used to construe or apply the rule text. Pursuant to subdivision (a), rulemaking proposals published seeking written responses shall be accompanied by a publication report from the Rules Committee. A Rules Committee may also submit a report pursuant to subdivision (b) when the Supreme Court adopts a rulemaking proposal. Any statements contained in Rules Committees' publication or adoption reports permitted by either subdivision (a) or (b) are neither part of the rule nor adopted by the Supreme Court.
The purpose of subdivisions (c) and (d) is to further the policy of the Supreme Court to implement the Unified Judicial System under the Constitution of 1968 and to facilitate the statewide practice of law under the Court's general rules. Local rules of judicial administration and local rules of procedure should not repeat general rules or statutory provisions verbatim or substantially verbatim nor should local rules make it difficult for attorneys to practice law in several counties. The provisions of subdivision (d) apply to local rules of procedure, but not to case-specific orders.
* * * * *
ADOPTION REPORT
Amendment of Pa.R.J.A. No. 101 and 103, Pa.R.C.P. No. 51 and 129, Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. No. 201, and
Pa. O.C. Rule 1.1An effort has been undertaken to establish internal guidance to enhance and maintain uniformity among the Court's procedural and evidentiary rules through the adherence to common standards for style, numbering, syntax, nomenclature, and the use of commentary in rulemaking. To facilitate the implementation of this guidance, a proposal was published for response concerning the possible amendment of Pa.R.J.A. No. 103 and Pa.R.C.P. No. 129 to clarify the use of commentary in rulemaking and amendment of Pa.R.J.A. No. 101, Pa.R.C.P. No. 51, Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. No. 201, and Pa. O.C. Rule 1.1 concerning citation format. See 49 Pa.B. 4809 (August 24, 2019). The Publication Report accompanying the proposal further addressed: 1) the ongoing effort to achieve consistency, including reconciliation of the differing numbering schemes for subparts and the use of subdivisions and paragraphs to describe subparts; 2) removal and reestablishment of Chapters 1900—1950 of the Rules of Civil Procedure; 3) the use of ''Comments'' to describe commentary and the elimination of ''notes''; 4) clarifying that commentary is part of the rule, but not part of the rule text; 5) removing largely historical material from existing commentary; and 6) a phased approach to restyling the rules to conform with internal guidance.
The proposal received seven responses containing helpful suggestions, insightful observations, and possible areas of concern. One respondent suggested reorganization of aspects of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure so they are ordered in a more intuitive fashion that relates to the linear progression of litigation. This suggestion will remain under consideration for possible implementation after those rules are conformed to internal guidance. Another respondent suggested a uniform set of rules of construction for the Court's procedural and evidentiary rules. It is anticipated that a proposal on this subject will be forthcoming.
Concerning proposed changes to the titles and citations of certain bodies of rules, several respondents suggested revising the abbreviation for ''civil'' to distinguish it from the abbreviation for ''court.'' This suggestion is reflected in post-publication revisions to Pa.R.C.P. No. 51 and Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. 201 to abbreviate ''civil'' as ''civ.'' Relatedly, a respondent expressed concern that changes to citations might operate to invalidate a previous reference to that authority. A Comment was added to Pa.R.C.P. No. 51, Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. No. 201, and Pa. O.C. Rule 1.1 to address that concern.
The rules set forth in Chapters 1900—1950 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, will be removed and relocated separate from the Rules of Civil Procedure. In doing so, that body of rules will be named the ''Pennsylvania Rules of Family Court Procedure'' and provided a corresponding citation format consistent with the other bodies of rules. Relocation of the rules will provide the opportunity for reorganization and renumbering to reduce or eliminate the use of secondary and tertiary numbering schemes. To minimize the impact that renumbering the statewide rules may have on the numbering of local rules, derivation tables and disposition tables may be permitted, subject to certain conditions, which will be discussed further in future rulemaking.
The value of retaining historical commentary will be evaluated on an ongoing basis. Commentary removed will be identified and set forth in an Adoption Report accompanying a general restyling. Commentary removed through rulemaking unrelated to a general restyling will continue to be identified by textual indicators. Accordingly, the removed commentary will be publically available in either an Adoption Report or the amended form of the rule should a reader wish to review rulemaking history.
The procedural and evidentiary rules will be conformed to the internal guidance in the following manner: The guidance will be applied prospectively to future rulemaking proposed by the Rules Committees. To the extent practicable, rules currently subject to rulemaking will be revised depending upon their stage in the process. Recognizing that some rules are infrequently amended, each body of rules will also be conformed in their entirety through a phased process. The first body of rules to be subjected to the phased conformity will be Chapters 1900—1950 of the Rules of Civil Procedure contemporaneous with its relocation and renumbering. No substantive changes to the operation of the rules are intended as a result of conformance.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 21-981. Filed for public inspection June 25, 2021, 9:00 a.m.]
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