Pennsylvania Code › Title 210 - APPELLATE PROCEDURE › Part II - INTERNAL OPERATING PROCEDURES › Chapter 63 - INTERNAL OPERATING PROCEDURES OF THE SUPREME COURT › Section 63.7 - Motions, Miscellaneous Petitions, and Applications for Relief

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
A.
Duties
				of Prothonotary
. All assignments of motions, miscellaneous petitions
				and applications for relief, including emergency motions and those requesting
				the exercise of King's Bench powers, extraordinary jurisdiction and original
				jurisdiction, shall originate in the Prothonotary's office. No motions,
				petitions or applications will be considered which were not first filed in the
				Prothonotary's office and thence assigned. Documents may be filed in paper
				format, or by electronic or facsimile transmission. Once received, motions,
				petitions and applications will be monitored by the Prothonotary's office for
				compliance with applicable appellate rules. Proposed filings that are not in
				compliance will not be docketed. Proposed filings that are in compliance will
				be docketed and a response will be allowed. At the expiration of the response
				period the documents will be forwarded to the Court.
Procedural motions (
e.g.
, first requests for
				  extension of time for not more than thirty days, requests to exceed page
				  limits, and requests to proceed in forma pauperis) may be resolved by the
				  Prothonotary without further action of the Court.
Requests for extension of time in excess of thirty days, and
				  second or subsequent requests for extension of time, are disfavored and will be
				  granted only upon a showing of good cause. Applications for such extensions
				  will be assigned to the Chief Justice.
(
Court Note:
Time periods for responses*
Filing
Rule
Response
							 Period
Application for Relief
							 (Extensions)
123
14 Days
Jurisdictional Statement
909(b)
14
							 Days
Petition for Allowance of
							 Appeal
1116
14 Days
Petition for Allowance of Appeal-Children's Fast
							 Track Cases
1116(b)
10 Days
Reconsideration
1123
No Answer
							 Permitted
Petition for Perm. To Appeal
1314
14
							 Days
Petition for Review
1516(c)
30 Days
N.B. No Answer Required Unless Petition
							 Contains Notice to Plead
Application for Release
							 (Bail)
1762
14 Days
Reargument
2545
14 Days
Original Process (e.g., Habeas,
							 Mandamus)
3307
14 Days
Extraordinary Relief
3309
14 Days
*May be shorter in stay or supersedeas applications when
				  circumstances require, or by court order.)
B.
Assignment, Circulation and
				Disposition
. All motions, petitions and applications will be assigned
				to the Chief Justice, except for emergency motions, motions addressed to a
				single Justice, and applications for stay of execution in capital cases. In
				matters assigned to the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice will prepare a
				memorandum setting forth the positions of the parties and a recommended
				disposition. Recommendations should be circulated within sixty (60) days from
				the date the answer is filed or is due to be filed, whichever occurs first, and
				should contain a proposed disposition date no greater than thirty (30) days
				from the date of circulation, except in Children's Fast Track cases, in which
				recommendations shall be circulated within fifteen (15) days from the date the
				answer is filed or due to be filed, whichever occurs first, and the proposed
				disposition date shall be no greater than fifteen (15) days from the date of
				circulation. A vote of the majority is required to implement the proposed
				disposition.
Every motion, petition or application shall be decided within
				  sixty (60) days, or within thirty (30) days in Children's Fast Track cases. A
				  Justice may request that the order record that he or she voted for a different
				  disposition. Orders disposing of motions, petitions and applications shall
				  indicate if a Justice did not participate in the consideration or decision of
				  the matter.
C.
Emergency Motions
.
1.
Assignment
. On or before the first Monday in January, the
				Chief Justice shall publish a calendar of duty assignments for the handling of
				emergency motions. Two Justices will be assigned by the Chief Justice on a
				monthly rotating basis to review emergency motions for the Eastern and Western
				Districts. Cases filed in the Middle District will be assigned alternately
				between the Eastern and Western District duty Justices.
2.
Circulation and
				Disposition
. Any motion assigned to the duty Justice may at the
				discretion of that Justice be referred to the full Court for consideration,
				with or without the entry of an interim order.