Category: URAP004

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed November 10, 2023

URAP004. Appeal as of right: when taken. The Committee has previously sent Rule 4 out for public comment in regards to the following proposed changes to: (1) explain the standard governing a motion to reinstate the time for appeal in a criminal case; (2) restructure paragraph (f) to be consistent with paragraph (g) (addressing reinstating the right to appeal in civil cases); (3) include a one-year deadline from discovery of facts giving rise to the claim; (4) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is filed on the weekend or on a legal holiday; and (5) clean up language for clarity and consistency.

The Committee has since made additional changes to: (1) requiring a defendant to include in the motion for reinstatement the reasons for filing later than the one year deadline; and (2) clarifying when the time for appeal beings to run when multiple post-judgment motions are decided separately.
URAP027. Form of briefs, motions, and other documents. The Committee proposes amendments to Rule 27 to: (1) provide more detailed guidance for preparing the caption for briefs and to conform the rule to current practice; (2) remove the requirement that opposing counsel be listed on the cover, as this information will be included on a following page; and (3) clarify the requirements for captions on petitions and motions or other documents that are not a brief or petition.
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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.

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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.

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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.
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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.

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Rules of Appellate Procedure

URAP 004. Appeal as of right: when taken. Amend. Provides that the time for all parties to appeal from a judgment runs from the entry of a dispositive order if a party files a motion for relief under rule 60(b) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure no later than 28 days after the judgment is entered or a motion or claim for attorney fees under rule 73 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, in addition to the other motions previously listed.

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Rules of Appellate Procedure

URAP 004. Appeal as of right; when taken. Amend. Clarifies the process for filing a motion for extension of time to file a notice of appeal based on good cause or based on good cause or excusable neglect.
URAP 021. Filing and service. Amend. Outlines the certifications an individual makes when filing papers in the appellate court.
URAP 021A. Appellate filings containing other than public information and records. New. Creates a new rule addressing the process for making appellate filings that contain information and records classified as other than public under Utah law.
URAP 048. Time for petitioning. Amend. Clarifies the process for filing a motion for extension of time to file a petition for writ of certiorari based on good cause or based on good cause or excusable neglect.
URAP 055. Petition on appeal. Amend. Requires that petitions on appeal comply with rule 21A.
URAP 056. Response to petition on appeal. Amend. Requires that responses to petitions on appeal comply with rule 21A.

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Rules of Appellate Procedure

URAP 004. Appeal as of right: when taken. Amend. Creates a process for litigants in civil cases to seek reinstatement of the 30 day period for filing an appeal. A trial court may reinstate the time for appeal if a party did not receive a notice of the judgment, because it was not promptly sent and the litigant otherwise exercised reasonable diligence in monitoring the proceedings.
URAP 014. Review of administrative orders: how obtained; intervention. Amend. Clarifies that payment of the filing fee is not jurisdictional, making the rule consistent with rule 3.
URAP 024. Briefs. Amend. Changes how a brief should be structured. Clarifies what should be included in each section and how much detail. Adds a word count limit in death sentence cases, doubling the limit in other appeals.

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Rules of Appellate Procedure

URAP 004. Appeal as of right: when taken. Amend. The amendment deletes the paragraph on notices of appeal filed by inmates, which provision is moved to Rule 21. The amendment also clarifies the time for filing a cross-appeal. The time begins from the date that the notice of appeal is docketed, rather than filed.
URAP 021. Filing and service. Amend. The amendment includes the provisions on filing notices of appeal by inmates. The amendments also clarify where filings are to be made and when filing is deemed accomplished.

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Rules of Appellate Procedure

URAP 04. Appeal as of right: when taken. Amend. Creates a procedure to implement the directive in State v. Manning, 2005 UT 61, 122 P.3d 628. allowing a criminal defendant to have appeal rights reinstated, when the defendant has been deprived of the an appeal.
URAP 24. Briefs. Amend. Clarifies the briefs that are to be filed and the number of pages permitted in cases involving cross-appeals. A singled brief may not exceed 50 pages, and the combined total of a party’s two briefs may not exceed 75 pages.

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