THE COURTS
PART I. GENERAL
[246 PA. CODE CH. 200]
Order Adopting New Rule 212 of the Rules of Conduct, Office Standards and Civil Procedure for District Justices; No. 139; Magisterial Doc. No. 1; Book No. 2
[32 Pa.B. 6080] The Minor Court Rules Committee has prepared a Final Report explaining the new Rule 212 of the Rules of Conduct, Office Standards and Civil Procedure for District Justices, effective January 1, 2003. This new rule provides for the design of forms. The Final Report follows the Court's Order.
Order Per Curiam:
And Now, this 25th day of November, 2002, upon the recommendation of the Minor Court Rules Committee; the proposal having been published before adoption at 31 Pa.B. 7028 (December 29, 2001), and a Final Report to be published with this Order:
It Is Ordered pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that new Rule 212 of the Rules of Conduct, Office Standards and Civil Procedure for District Justices is adopted in the following form.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and shall be effective January 1, 2003.
Annex A
TITLE 246. MINOR COURT CIVIL RULES
PART I. GENERAL
CHAPTER 200. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION; GENERAL PROVISIONS Rule 212. Design of Forms.
The Court Administrator of Pennsylvania, in consultation with the Minor Court Rules Committee, shall design and publish forms necessary to implement these rules.
Adopted November 25, 2002, effective January 1, 2003.
FINAL REPORT1
New Pa. R.C.P.D.J. No. 212
DESIGN OF FORMS On November 25, 2002, effective January 1, 2003, upon the recommendation of the Minor Court Rules Committee,2 the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopted new Rule 212 of the Rules of Conduct, Office Standards and Civil Procedure for District Justices.3
Proceedings in district justice courts, more so than in other courts, rely heavily on the use of preprinted standard forms. Forms are used for basic pleadings, notices, and virtually all other case-related documents. Most forms used in district justice proceedings are computer generated, produced by the District Justice Automated System (DJS). Traditionally, when individual rules have specified that a form is to be used for a certain document, the rules have made reference to ''a form prescribed by the State Court Administrator.'' In drafting proposed new rules and amendments to existing rules, the Committee has decided that the use of this language in individual rules is cumbersome and unnecessary.
As an alternative, the Committee recommended an entirely new Pa.R.C.P.D.J. No. 212 to be a general rule regarding the design of forms. In recommending such a rule, the Committee contemplated that references to forms in individual rules could be eliminated, except where the content of a form is to be expressly dictated by the rule.
The new rule, which is modeled after Pa.R.Crim.P. 104, provides that ''[t]he Court Administrator of Pennsylvania, in consultation with the Minor Court Rules Committee, shall design and publish forms necessary to implement these rules.''
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1 The Committee's Final Report should not be confused with the official Committee Notes to the Rules. Also, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania does not adopt the Committee's Notes or the contents of the Committee's explanatory Final Reports.
2 Recommendation No. 2 Minor Court Rules 2002.
3 Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Order No. 139, Magisterial Docket No. 1, Book No. 2 (November 25, 2002).
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 02-2214. Filed for public inspection December 13, 2002, 9:00 a.m.]
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