The Supreme Court invites comments to proposed amendments to the following court rules. The comment period expires March 28, 2007.
Summary of proposed amendments
Rules of Evidence
URE 0509. News reporters. New. Creates a privilege for news reporters. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URE 0702. Testimony by experts. Amend. Preserves and clarifies differences between the Utah and federal approaches to expert testimony. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
Rules of Civil Procedure
URCP 016. Pretrial conferences, scheduling, and management conferences. Amend. Coordinates sanction provisions with those in Rule 35 and Rule 37. Adopt the federal provisions governing discovery of electronically stored information. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP 023A. Derivative actions by shareholders. Renumber and amend. Renumbers the rule to conform to Supreme Court protocol. Amends the rule to more clearly delineate the content of the petition. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP 026. General provisions governing discovery. Amend. Adopt the federal provisions governing discovery of electronically stored information. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP 033. Interrogatories to parties. Amend. Adopt the federal provisions governing discovery of electronically stored information. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP 034. Production of documents and things and entry upon land for inspection and other purposes. Amend. Adopt the federal provisions governing discovery of electronically stored information. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP 035. Physical and mental examination of persons. Amend. Coordinates sanction provisions with those in Rule 16 and Rule 37. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP 037. Failure to make or cooperate in discovery; sanctions. Amend. Creates sanctions for spoliation of evidence. Coordinates sanction provisions with those in Rule 16 and Rule 35. Adopt the federal provisions governing discovery of electronically stored information. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP 045. Subpoena. Amend. Require person scheduling deposition to give advance notice before serving subpoena. Permit person serving subpoena rather than recipient to decide whether records should be copied and delivered or delivered for inspection and copying. Requires advance payment of costs upon request. Clarifies the grounds and procedures for objecting to a subpoena. Requires declaration under penalty of perjury to accompany documents produced under a subpoena. Adopt the federal provisions governing discovery of electronically stored information. Delete committee note. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP Form 40. Subpoena. Repeal & Reenact. Subpoena, Notice of Rights, Objection. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP 101. Motion practice before court commissioners. Amend. Permit motion for default judgment to be heard by the court commissioner. Technical amendments. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCP 106. Modification of divorce decrees. Amend. Expand to include modification of any final domestic relations order. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
Rules of Criminal Procedure
URCrP 14. Subpoenas. Amend. Creates a new process for gaining access to records of a victim. The court must approve any subpoena or order for confidential records related to a victim. The court conducts an in camera review of the records and may place restrictions on dissemination. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
URCrP 18. Selection of the jury. Amend. Clarifies the standard for removing a juror for cause based on the juror's views on capital punishment.. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
Rules of Appellate Procedure
URAP 55. Petition on appeal. Amend. Specifically describes the format of a petition for appeal in child welfare matters. The amendments incorporate specific provisions from Rule 27. Proposed effective date: November 1, 2007.
How to view redline text of the proposed amendments
To see proposed rule amendments and submit comments, click on this link to: http://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/comments/. Then click on the rule number.
How to submit comments
You can comment and view the comments of others by clicking on the "comments" link associated with each body of rules. It's more efficient for us if you submit comments through the website, and we encourage you to do so. After clicking on the comment link, you will be prompted for your name, which we request, and your email address and URL, which are optional. This is a public site and, if you do not want to disclose your email address, omit it. Time does not permit us to acknowledge comments, but all will be considered.
Submit comments directly through the website or to:
Tim Shea
Email: tims@email.utcourts.gov Please include the comment in the message text, not in an attachment.
Fax: 801-578-3843
Administrative Office of the Courts
P.O. Box 140241
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-0241
One method of submitting a comment is sufficient.