The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has established eight procedural rules committees to provide advice and make recommendations for rules governing particular substantive areas. Committee members are judges and attorneys. They are appointed by the Supreme Court and serve without pay. Typically, the committees meet quarterly. Although committee meetings are not open to the public, participation by the public is welcome in the form of written comments about the rules.
The committees consider issues brought to them by the Supreme Court, judges, attorneys, employees of the Unified Judicial System, members of the legislative and executive branches of government, and citizens. The committees also monitor developments in the federal courts and in other states for impact on Pennsylvania court procedure.
Rule change proposals are published for comment here on the Unified Judicial System’s Web site, on the respective committees’ pages; in the 'Pennsylvania Bulletin' and in other national, state and local legal publications. Proposals also are distributed to interested organizations and individuals.
Some rule change proposals, however, are submitted directly to the Supreme Court without advance publication or opportunity for the public to comment. This occurs when circumstances require prompt action, or because a proposed rule change is technical or perfunctory in nature.
The committees review all public comments. When the review process is completed, one of two things occurs: a final draft of the rule change proposal is submitted to the Supreme Court for consideration, or the committee drops the proposal, based on its review of public comments.
The Supreme Court may adopt, amend or reject any recommendation it receives from a procedural rules committee. The Court’s orders are published for the public’s information in the same manner as committee proposals.
Explanatory reports or comments published with rule proposals provide insight into committee considerations in developing specific proposals. In addition, explanatory notes or comments within or immediately following the texts of final rules serve as guidelines for understanding the purpose for which rules were drafted. However, this portion of the rule is not officially adopted by the Supreme Court, nor does it constitute part of the rule.
The Rules Committees
Daniel A. Durst, Esq.
Chief Counsel
Pennsylvania Judicial Center
601 Commonwealth Ave., Suite 6200
PO Box 62635
Harrisburg, PA 17106-2635