Rule 230.1. Compulsory Nonsuit at Trial.
(a)(1) In an action involving only one plaintiff and one defendant, the court, on oral motion of the defendant, may enter a nonsuit on any and all causes of action if, at the close of the plaintiff’s case on liability, the plaintiff has failed to establish a right to relief.
(2) The court in deciding the motion shall consider only evidence which was introduced by the plaintiff and any evidence favorable to the plaintiff introduced by the defendant prior to the close of the plaintiff’s case.
Official Note
Subdivision (a) changes the prior practice whereby the entry of a compulsory nonsuit was precluded when any evidence had been presented by the defendant.
If a motion for compulsory nonsuit is granted, the plaintiff may file a written motion to remove the nonsuit. See Rule 227.1
(b) In an action involving more than one plaintiff, the court may not enter a compulsory nonsuit as to any plaintiff until the close of the case of all the plaintiffs.
(c) In an action involving more than one defendant, the court may not enter a nonsuit of any plaintiff prior to the close of the case of all plaintiffs against all defendants. The nonsuit may be entered in favor of
(1) all of the defendants, or
(2) any of the defendants who have moved for nonsuit if all of the defendants stipulate on the record that no evidence will be presented that would establish liability of the defendant who has moved for the nonsuit.
Official Note
The term ‘‘defendants’’ includes additional defendants.
Source The provisions of this Rule 230.1 adopted October 19, 1983, effective January 1, 1984, 13 Pa.B. 3629; amended April 12, 1999, effective July 1, 1999, 29 Pa.B. 2266; amended May 30, 2001, effective July 1, 2001, 31 Pa.B. 3184. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (255175).
(Editor’s Note: The Supreme Court issued an order on April 23, 2014 (No. 594 Civil Procedural Rule Doc.), suspending Rule 230.2, which is under review and revision. The order does not affect the trial courts’ ability to proceed pursuant to Pa.R.J.A. No. 1901. The order is effective immediately. See 44 Pa.B. 2747 (May 10, 2014).)
(Editor’s Note: The Supreme Court issued an order on December 9, 2015 (No. 634 Civil Procedural Rules Doc.), reinstating and amending Rule 230.2, effective December 31, 2016. See 45 Pa.B. 7283 (December 26, 2015). This order will be codified in the December 2016 Pennsylvania Code Reporter.)
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 Code 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.
