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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 07-154

THE COURTS

Title 210--APPELLATE PROCEDURE

PART I.  RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE

[210 PA. CODE CHS. 1, 3 AND 9]

Order Amending Pa.R.A.P. 108, 301 and 903; No. 177 Appellate Procedural Rules; Doc. No. 1

[37 Pa.B. 521]
[Saturday, February 3, 2007]

Order

Per Curiam:

   And Now, this 18th day of January, 2007, upon the recommendation of the Appellate Court Procedural Rules Committee, this recommendation having been submitted without publication in the interest of justice, pursuant to Pa.R.J.A. 103(a)(3):

   It Is Ordered, pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, that Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure 108, 301 and 903 are amended in the following form.

   This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. 103(b), and shall become effective August 1, 2007.

Annex A

TITLE 210.  APPELLATE PROCEDURE

PART I.  RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE

ARTICLE I.  PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

CHAPTER 1.  GENERAL PROVISIONS

IN GENERAL

Rule 108.  Date of Entry of Orders.

*      *      *      *      *

   (d)  Criminal orders.

   (1)  In determining the date of entry of criminal orders, subdivision (a)(1) shall apply except as provided in subparagraph (d)(2).

   (2)  In a criminal case in which no post-sentence motion has been filed, the date of imposition of sentence in open court shall be deemed to be the date of entry of the judgment of sentence.

   Official Note:

*      *      *      *      *

   See Pa.R.A.P. 301(a)(1) and (2), Pa.R.A.P. 903(c)(3), and Pa.R.Crim. P. 462, 720, and 721 governing criminal appeals.

Explanatory Comment--1979

   Where a determination is implied by the passage of time without action by a government unit, an aggrieved party is given the option either to appeal at once at the expiration of the period or to rely on the government unit or other affected person to give notice that an implied determination has been made.

Explanatory Comment--2007

   New subdivision (d) governs criminal appeals. Under new subdivision (d), when no post-sentence motion is filed, the time for appeal begins to run from the date of imposition of sentence. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 462(G)(2), 720(A)(3) and (D), and 721(B)(2)(a)(ii), and the conforming amendments to Pa.R.A.P. 301(a)(2) and 903(c)(3), and 2006 Explanatory Comment thereto. See also Commonwealth v. Green, 862 A.2d 613 (Pa. Super. 2004) (en banc), allocatur denied, 584 Pa. 692, 882 A.2d 477 (2005). When post-sentence motions are denied by operation of law, the appeal period shall run from the date of entry of the order denying the motion by operation of law. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 720(B)(3)(c).

CHAPTER 3.  ORDERS FROM WHICH APPEALS MAY BE TAKEN

IN GENERAL

Rule 301.  Requisites for an Appealable Order.

   (a)  Entry upon docket below.--[No]

   (1)  Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subdivision, no order of a court shall be appealable until it has been entered upon the appropriate docket in the lower court. Where under the applicable practice below an order is entered in two or more dockets, the order has been entered for the purposes of appeal when it has been entered in the first appropriate docket.

   (2)  In a criminal case in which no post-sentence motion has been filed, a judgment of sentence is appealable upon the imposition of sentence in open court.

   (b)  Separate document required.--Every order shall be set forth on a separate document.

   (c)  Nonappealable orders.--[A] Except as provided in subdivision (a)(2), a direction by the lower court that a specified judgment, sentence or other order shall be entered, unaccompanied by actual entry of the specified order in the docket, does not constitute an appealable order. Any such order shall be docketed before an appeal is taken.

*      *      *      *      *

   Official Note:

*      *      *      *      *

   See Pa.R.A.P. 108 and Explanatory Comment--2007 thereto, Pa.R.A.P. 903(c)(3), and Pa.R.Crim. P. 462, 720, and 721 governing criminal appeals.

Explanatory Comment--1976

   Language clarified to conform to Stotsenburg v. Frost, 465 Pa. 187, 348 A.2d 418 (1975).

ARTICLE II.  APPELLATE PROCEDURE

CHAPTER 9.  APPEALS FROM LOWER COURTS

Rule 903.  Time for Appeal.

*      *      *      *      *

   (c)  Special provisions. Notwithstanding any other provision of this rule:

*      *      *      *      *

   (3)  In a criminal case in which no post-sentence motion has been filed, the notice of appeal shall be filed within 30 days of the imposition of the judgment of sentence in open court.

   Official Note:

*      *      *      *      *

   See Pa.R.A.P. 108 and Explanatory Comment--2007 thereto, Pa.R.A.P. 301(a)(1) and (2), and Pa.R.Crim.P. 462, 720, and 721 governing criminal appeals.

Explanatory Comment--2001

   The 2001 amendment to Subdivision (c) clarifies that the appeal period for appealing from orders in civil cases sustaining venue or personal or in rem jurisdiction runs from the date of the election under Pa.R.A.P. 311(b)(1), not the date of the original order. The 2000 amendment extends the appeal period following such an election from ten days to thirty days to conform the appeal period for civil orders changing venue pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 311(c).

   The portion of the Note suggesting the necessity of taking an appeal within the 20 day pleading period is misleading and is deleted. For this reason, the bracketed material of the Note is deleted.

Explanatory Comment--2002

   See Comment following Pa.R.A.P., Rule 511.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 07-154. Filed for public inspection February 2, 2007, 9:00 a.m.]



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