Utah Court Rules – Published for Comment
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Posted: January 19, 2022
URJP025A. Withdrawal of Pleas. REPEALED. Rule 25A will be repealed because procedures governing the withdrawal of pleas are contained in Utah Code section 80-6-306.
I write to strongly urge the Committee on the Rules of Juvenile Procedure, or in the alternative, the Utah Supreme Court, to not repeal Rule 25A of the Utah Rules of Juvenile Procedure.
Article VIII, Section 4 of the Utah Constitution provides, in part, “The Supreme Court shall adopt rules of procedure and evidence to be used in the courts of the state….” In Brown v. Cox, 2017 UT 3, ¶17, 387 P.3d 1040, the Utah Supreme Court unanimously stated, “By the constitution’s plain language, the Legislature does not adopt rules of procedure and evidence; it amends the rules the supreme court creates.” The proposed repeal of Rule 25A does the exact opposite; it repeals a rule of procedure properly adopted by the Supreme Court in favor of a statute enacted by the Legislature. To be clear, this issue does not involve a situation where the Legislature has amended a rule of the Supreme Court, nor does it involve a debate about whether the rule is procedural or substantive. Rather, the explanation for the change states, “Rule 25A will be repealed because procedures governing the withdrawal of pleas are contained in Utah Code section 80-6-306.”
For these reasons, I strongly urge the Committee, or in the alternative, the Utah Supreme Court, to abandon the effort to repeal Rule 25A of the Utah Rules of Juvenile Procedure and any other effort to repeal or change a properly adopted rule of procedure in favor of a statute enacted by the Legislature.