-Rules of Appellate Procedure – Utah Court Rules

Posted: June 28, 2023

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed August 12, 2023

URAP005. Discretionary appeals from interlocutory orders. The Committee proposes amending Rule 5 to: (1) Make the process for preparing the record consistent with those in other types of appeals; and (2) remove the language requiring the ordering of transcripts be expedited (if parties require an expedited appeal they may file a 23C motion for emergency relief).

URAP050. Response; reply. The Committee proposes amending Rule 50 to: (1) add language which will allow a party to respond to a petition for writ of certiorari only when the Court requests one, as is the current practice for responses to petitions for interlocutory appeal (Rule 5(f)) and for rehearing (Rule 35(a)(4)); (2) remove language about the timing for a response when the filing fee is paid after the petition is served because responses will no longer be permitted unless requested by the Court (additionally, Rule 48(a) addresses the filing fee requirement); and (3) clean up language for clarity and consistency.

Posted: May 3, 2023

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 17, 2023

URAP008. Stay or injunction pending appeal. Rule 8 is being amended to remove references to specific subparagraphs within Rule 62 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 62 was significantly amended effective November 1, 2021. Those amendments deleted the prior subparagraph (d). Thus, the current reference in Rule 8(b)(1) of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure to “Rule 62(d) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure” no longer makes sense. To avoid future problems, the Committee also suggests modifying Appellate Rule 8’s subparagraph (c) because it also contains a reference to a specific subparagraph of Civil Rule 62.

Posted: April 20, 2023

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 4, 2023

URAP014. Review of administrative orders: how obtained; intervention. Public Comment. The Committee proposes amending Rule 14 to: (1) add a filing fee provision. This provision was inadvertently removed from the rule in 2016. The Committee is adding the provision back into the rule so it is consistent with Rules 3 and 5.

Posted: April 20, 2023

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 4, 2023

URAP004. Appeal as of right: when taken. S.B. 18, the Public Expression Protection Act, originally sought to impose a 21-day deadline to file a notice of appeal from the denial of an expedited motion to dismiss a lawsuit under the Act. But the Utah Supreme Court’s legislative liaison recognized that including a deadline to file a notice of appeal in a statute could raise constitutional questions about whether that deadline infringes the Court’s procedural rulemaking authority. There was not enough time left in the legislative session for the legislature to pursue a joint resolution to amend the rules of appellate procedure to add the new deadline. Thus, to avoid future litigation on the constitutional issue, court and legislative personnel worked jointly to amend rule 4 to include the new deadline to take effect simultaneously with the bill’s effective date of May 3, 2023. The Court has accordingly adopted the amendment to rule 4 on an expedited basis, with the public comment period to follow, pursuant to rule 11-105(5) of the Utah Rules of Judicial Administration.

Posted: December 15, 2022

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed January 29, 2023

URAP004. Appeal as of right: when taken. The Committee had previously sent the rule out for comment in regards to the following proposed changes: (1) add to the rule the standard governing motion to reinstate the time for appeal; (2) restructure the section to be consistent with subsection 4(g) (addressing reinstating the right to appeal in civil cases); (3) included a one-year deadline from discovery of facts giving rise to the claim; and (4) clean up language for clarity and consistency. The Committee is proposing sending out for public comment; (1) new restructured language in regards to the one-year timeframe; and (2) clarifying what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is filed on the weekend or on a legal holiday.

URAP005. Discretionary appeals from interlocutory orders. The Committee proposes amending Rule 5 to: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is filed on the weekend or on a legal holiday; and (2) clean up language for clarity and consistency.

URAP011. The record on appeal. The Committee proposes amending Rule 11 to: (1) add a requirement that parties include the position of all other parties when filing a motion; and (2) change the reference to Rule 11(e)(1) to (c)(1).

URAP022. Computation and enlargement of time. The Committee proposes amending Rule 22 to: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is filed on the weekend or on a legal holiday; (2) clarify “legal holiday” and provide a web link to the Utah Courts website that lists the holidays in which the Utah State Courts are closed; (3) add a requirement that parties include the position of all other parties when filing a motion; and (4) clean up language for clarity and consistency.

URAP052. Child welfare appeals. The Committee proposes amending Rule 52 to: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is filed on the weekend or on a legal holiday; (2) clean up format for consistency.

URAP057. Record on appeal; transmission of record. The Committee proposes amending Rule 57 to clarify that the record on appeal consists of the juvenile’s entire legal file, but only those parts of the juvenile’s social file that the juvenile court actually considered.

Posted: October 27, 2022

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed December 11, 2022

URAP020. Habeas corpus proceedings. Repeal/Add Advisory Committee Note. The Committee is posting for public comment the addition of an Advisory Committee Note to the repealed rule. This note is intended to alleviate concerns in regards to repealing Rule 20. The Committee previously proposed repealing Rule 20 because it is superfluous and confusing, and could prejudice a criminal defendant’s opportunity to seek relief under the Post-Conviction Remedies Act (PCRA). Rules 65B and 65C of the civil rules, together with the PCRA, Utah Code § 78B-9-101 to -110, already provide mechanisms to challenge the lawfulness of any official detention.

URAP019. Extraordinary writs. The Committee proposes amending Rule 19 to: (1) incorporate a page and word limit, and a certificate of compliance, similar to the requirements in Rule 24 regarding briefs; (2) add the ability for the petitioner to file a reply after service of a response; (3) increase the amount of time to file a response from 7 days to 30; (4) add an Advisory Committee Note advising parties that although Rule 20 has been repealed, they still have the ability to file directly to the Supreme Court under Rule 19 under appropriate circumstances; and (5) clean up language for clarity and consistency.

URAP023. Motions. The Committee proposes substituting “discussion” for “memorandum.” The Committee believes that the word “memorandum” can lead individuals to file unnecessarily a separate document containing the facts and arguments supporting their requests, rather than merely including those facts and arguments in the original petition or motion.

URAP023C. Motion for emergency relief. The Committee proposes amending Rule 23C to (1) change the reference to Rule 19; (2) change the rule reference in paragraph (e) concerning form of papers from Rule 23(f) to Rule 27, as paragraph 23(f) was relocated to Rule 27 effective November 1, 2021; and (3) correct formatting for consistency. The rule currently refers to a specific subparagraph in Rule 19 that will be renumbered under the proposed amendments. To avoid cross-referencing problems that future amendments may create, the Committee recommends directing parties to the general rule rather than a specific paragraph.

Posted: July 14, 2022

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed August 28, 2022

URAP004. Appeal as of right: when taken. Amend. The Committee is posting for public comment proposed changes to Rule 4(f) again after numerous comments were received, and additional changes were made to the proposed rule amendment. The Committee previously proposed the following changes: (1) add to the rule the standard governing motions to reinstate the time for appeal; (2) restructure the section to be consistent with subsection 4(g) (addressing reinstating the right to appeal in civil cases); (3) clean up language for clarity and consistency; and (4) included a one-year deadline from discovery of facts giving rise to the claim.

After reviewing the comments received the Committee removed the three examples from Manning v. State, 2005 UT 61, 122 P.3d 628, previously located under paragraph (f)(5) because, as Manning recognized, those examples did not provide the exclusive grounds for reinstating the right to appeal. See id. ¶31 n.11.

The Committee also worked on rewording the one-year deadline to make it even more flexible by allowing district courts to hear claims that are brought after the one-year deadline, provided a defendant can show that she brought her claim within a reasonable time. The Committee agreed that a flexible deadline was necessary because missing the deadline prevents a criminal defendant (who will usually be incarcerated and pro se) from asserting her constitutional right to appeal.

Posted: May 5, 2022

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 19, 2022

The Committee proposes amending the listed rules to (1) add “or declaration” any time affidavit is mentioned; (2) add an Advisory Committee Note explaining that the term “declaration” refers to the unsworn declaration described in Title 78b, Chapter 18a, Uniform Unsworn Declarations Act; (3) move the reference to the statute in Rule 37 to an Advisory Committee Note so the rules will be consistent; and (4) remove language in Rules 8 and 17 regarding other sworn statements.

URAP008. Stay or injunction pending appeal.

URAP017. Stay pending review.

URAP023B. Motion to remand for findings necessary to determination of ineffective assistance of counsel claim.

URAP029. Oral argument.

URAP037. Suggestion of mootness; voluntary dismissal.

Posted: March 23, 2022

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed May 7, 2022

URAP014. Review of administrative orders: how obtained; intervention. Amend

The Advisory Committee on the Rules of Appellate Procedure recommends amending Rule 14, which addresses review of administrative orders, to allow parties to file a cross-petition when a petition for review is filed by another party. The proposal responds to the Utah Court of Appeals’ observation that allowing cross-petitions in administrative appeals would further judicial efficiency. See Watson v. Lab. Comm’n, 2020 UT App 170, ¶1 n.1, 480 P.3d 353.

Posted: March 10, 2022

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed April 24, 2022

URAP004. Appeal as of right: when taken. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 4, subsection (f), addressing reinstating the right to appeal in criminal cases; are to (1) add that a motion to reinstate must be filed within one year from discovery of facts giving rise to the claim; (2) include the standard governing such motions; (3) restructure the section to be consistent with subsection 4(g) (addressing reinstating the right to appeal in civil cases); (4) and clean up language for clarity and consistency.

URAP020. Habeas corpus proceedings. Repeal. The Utah Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Appellate Procedure recommends repealing Rule 20 because it is superfluous and confusing, and could prejudice a criminal defendant’s opportunity to seek relief under the Post-Conviction Remedies Act (PCRA). Rules 65B and 65C of the civil rules, together with the PCRA, Utah Code § 78B-9-101 to -110, already provide mechanisms to challenge the lawfulness of any official detention.