THE COURTS
Title 234--RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
[234 PA. CODE CH. 1]
Order Amending Rule 103; No. 308 Criminal Procedural Rules; Doc. No. 2
[34 Pa.B. 2541] The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee has prepared a Final Report explaining the April 30, 2004 amendment to Rule of Criminal Procedure 103 that includes a definition of ''signature'' that makes it clear that ''signature,'' when used in reference to documents generated by the minor judiciary or court of common pleas, includes a handwritten signature, a copy of a handwritten signature, a computer generated signature, or a signature created, transmitted, received, or stored by electronic means, by the signer or by someone with the signer's authorization, unless otherwise provided in these rules. The Final Report follows the Court's Order.
Order Per Curiam:
Now, this 30th day of April, 2004, upon the recommendation of the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee; the proposal having been published before adoption at 33 Pa.B. 1048 (March 1, 2003), and in the Atlantic Reporter (Second Series Advance Sheets, Vol. 815), 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 Rule of Criminal Procedure 103 is amended in the following form.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. 103(b), and shall be effective July 1, 2004.
Annex A
TITLE 234. RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 1. SCOPE OF RULES, CONSTRUCTION AND DEFINITIONS, LOCAL RULES
PART A. Business of the Courts Rule 103. Definitions.
The following words and phrases, when used in any Rule of Criminal Procedure, shall have the following meanings:
* * * * * SIGNATURE, when used in reference to documents generated by the minor judiciary or court of common pleas, includes a handwritten signature, a copy of a handwritten signature, a computer generated signature, or a signature created, transmitted, received, or stored by electronic means, by the signer or by someone with the signer's authorization, unless otherwise provided in these rules.
* * * * *
Comment * * * * * Neither the definition of law enforcement officer nor the definition of police officer gives the power of arrest to any person who is not otherwise given that power by law.
The definition of signature was added in 2004 to make it clear when a rule requires a document generated by the minor judiciary or court of common pleas to include a signature or to be signed, that the signature may be in any of the forms provided in the definition. In addition, documents that institute proceedings or require the inclusion of an oath ordinarily are not documents generated by the minor courts or courts of common pleas and therefore any signature required on the document would not be included in this definition of signature; however, in the event such a document is generated by the minor courts or the courts of common pleas, the form of ''signature'' on this document is limited to handwritten, and the other forms of signature provided in the definition are not permitted.
* * * * * Official Note: Previous Rules 3 and 212 adopted June 30, 1964, effective January 1, 1965, suspended January 31, 1970, effective May 1, 1970; present Rule 3 adopted January 31, 1970, effective May 1, 1970; amended June 8, 1973, effective July 1, 1973; amended February 15, 1974, effective immediately; amended June 30, 1977, effective September 1, 1977; amended January 4, 1979, effective January 9, 1979; amended July 12, 1985, effective January 1, 1986; January 1, 1986 effective date extended to July 1, 1986; amended August 12, 1993, effective September 1, 1993; amended February 27, 1995, effective July 1, 1995; amended September 13, 1995, effective January 1, 1996. The January 1, 1996 effective date extended to April 1, 1996; the April 1, 1996 effective date extended to July 1, 1996; renumbered Rule 103 and Comment revised March 1, 2000, effective April 1, 2001; amended May 10, 2002, effective September 1, 2002; amended March 3, 2004, effective July 1, 2004; amended April 30, 2004, effective July 1, 2004.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
* * * * * Final Report explaining the April 30, 2004 amendments defining ''signature'' published with the Court's Order at 34 Pa.B. 2542 (May 15, 2004).
FINAL REPORT1
Amendment to Pa.R.Crim.P. 103
Definition of Signature On April 30, 2004, effective July 1, 2004, upon the recommendation of the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee, the Court amended Pa.R.Crim.P. 103 (Definitions) to include a definition of signature: ''signature, when used in reference to documents generated by the minor judiciary or court of common pleas, includes a handwritten signature, a copy of a handwritten signature, a computer generated signature, or a signature created, transmitted, received, or stored by electronic means, by the signer or by someone with the signer's authorization, unless otherwise provided in these rules.''
The Committee has been undertaking a review of the Criminal Rules as part of its continuing efforts to encourage and facilitate the use of advanced communication technology (ACT) in court proceedings,2 conform the rules to the ACT changes adopted by the Supreme Court in 2002,3 and respond to issues raised by the Supreme Court's Common Pleas Court Management System (CPCMS) Project staff. One issue the CPCMS Project staff raised with the Committee was ''whether the rules permit a judge, defendant, counsel, etc. to use an electronic signature to sign a form.'' The CPCMS Project staff pointed out that the Criminal Rules do not specifically permit electronic signatures on criminal case documents, and, because they are in the final stages of developing the CPCMS to automate the common pleas courts, they need to know whether to incorporate the capability of using electronic signatures into the system. The Committee's review of the rules revealed that without some specific reference to electronic signatures, there could be confusion whether this form of signature is permitted, especially in view of the Court's continuing efforts to integrate automation and ACT procedures into the Criminal Rules and the criminal trial process. The Committee considered various approaches to providing in the Criminal Rules this clarification. We concluded the best way to proceed is to define the term ''signature'' in the rules and make it clear the term ''signature'' includes electronic signatures on documents generated4 by the minor courts5 or courts of common pleas that are prepared and transmitted electronically.
During the Committee's discussion of the wording of a definition, several members expressed concerns about the scope of the definition and whether some controls over the use of forms of signatures other than a traditional signature handwritten by the signatory should be included. Concerning the scope of the definition, because the changes tie into the CPCMS which primarily is an automated court management system, the Committee agreed that, for the time being, the definition should be limited to court-generated documents and not documents coming into the court from counsel or defendants. In addition, the members thought this definition provides the best means of capturing a judge's signature so that when the judge authorizes a document, the signature of the judge can be generated or reproduced on the document in lieu of the judge physically handwriting his or her name. Finally, the members agreed that the definition should be broad enough to 1) encompass all the forms of signature, not only electronic, and be worded broadly so the definition would not have to be amended to accommodate new forms of technology as they are developed, and 2) accommodate not only the judge who authorizes his or her signature on a document be generated or reproduced electronically or by some other means, but also the judge who elects to physically handwrite his or her name.
Concerning placing some controls in the definition, the members particularly were concerned about signatures being placed on documents without the authorization of the individual purporting to have signed the document. We noted that the same situation arises with signatures that are not electronically generated, and that there probably is no procedural way to protect completely against unauthorized signatures. However, we agreed the definition should include a provision requiring that a signature must be affixed upon the document by the signer or by someone with the signer's authorization.
In view of the foregoing considerations, Rule 103 (Definitions) has been amended by including a definition of the term ''signature'' to make it clear that when used in reference to a minor court or common pleas court-generated document only, signature includes: 1) a handwritten signature; 2) a copy of a handwritten signature; 3) a computer generated signature, or 4) a signature created, transmitted, received, or stored by electronic means, and explain that the signature must be placed on the document by the signatory or by someone with the signatory's authorization. In addition, the Comment to Rule 103 has been revised to include an explanation that if the minor court or court of common pleas ever generate a document that institute proceedings or require the inclusion of an oath, the form of signature on the document is limited to the original handwritten signature of the district justice or judge, and the other forms of signature provided in the definition are prohibited.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 04-841. Filed for public inspection May 14, 2004, 9:00 a.m.] _______
1 The Committee's Final Reports should not be confused with the official Committee Comments to the rules. Also note that the Supreme Court does not adopt the Committee's Comments or the contents of the Committee's explanatory Final Reports.
2 The Committee strongly believes the use of technology should be encouraged when feasible because this promotes the Court's goals of statewide uniformity in the practice of law, and the use of technology has been shown to result in a more efficient use of the court's limited resources.
3 See, e.g., the Court's May 10, 2002 Order published at 32 Pa.B. 2591 (May 25, 2002).
4 The members while working on this definition were aware that the term ''electronic signature'' can mean either a signature that is generated or created or produced or reproduced by a system when the appropriate buttons are entered (i.e., as in a PIN), or a signature that is ''written'' or ''entered'' on an electronic pad, captured as a signature, and ''remembered'' by that system so that is can be reproduced when necessary, and that all these forms of electronic signatures needed to be included in the definition of ''signature.''
5 The Committee published our proposal at 33 Pa.B. 1048 (March 1, 2003), and included in the proposed definition the language ''court generated document.'' In view of correspondence we received following the publication of our proposal, the Committee agreed to modify the definition to make it clear that the definition includes signatures on documents generated by the minor courts and does not include signatures on documents that come into the court from counsel or the defendant. Accordingly, we agreed to replace in the definition the language ''court generated document'' with ''documents generated by the minor judiciary or court of common pleas.''
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