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The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is an advisory arm to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, serving to assist the court in achieving its constitutional mandate to prescribe general rules governing criminal practice and procedure throughout Pennsylvania. The committee also monitors all local criminal rules as required by Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 105.
The committee periodically publishes reports explaining the committee's proposals for new rules and rule amendments. These publications, titled Reports, can be found in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and in the Atlantic Reporter 2d (Pennsylvania Reporter Series). In them, the committee encourages judges, lawyers and the public to submit comments and recommendations concerning the proposals. All comments are considered and, when appropriate, proposals are modified before final recommendations are made to the court.
If a recommendation is adopted, the committee prepares a final explanatory report for publication with the court's order. These Final Reports are useful sources of information about the rule changes and the committee's considerations in developing the proposal for the rule changes.
The committee also prepares, as a public service, a "Calendar of the Effective Dates," which lists recently adopted criminal procedural rule changes and their effective dates. These calendars are published in various legal journals and newsletters to provide easy access to the effective dates of criminal rule changes.
| Committee Members |
Staff |
| Philip D. Lauer, Esq., Chair |
Anne T. Panfil, Esq., Counsel |
| Honorable Nancy L. Butts, Vice Chair |
Jeffrey M. Wasileski, Esq., Counsel |
| Dante G. Bertani, Esq. |
Suzanne Creavey, Assistant |
| John P. Delaney, Jr., Esq. |
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| Daniel E. Fitzsimmons, Esq. |
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| William F. Manifesto, Esq. |
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Honorable Jeffrey A. Manning |
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| Caroline M. Roberto, Esq.
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| Honorable Thomas P. Rogers |
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| Richard A. Sheetz, Jr., Esq. |
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Honorable Jayne F. Duncan |
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Douglas R. Praul, Esq., ex officio |
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Honorable Paul M. Yatron |
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Criminal Procedural Rules Committee
Pennsylvania Judicial Center
601 Commonwealth Ave., Suite 6200
PO Box 62635
Harrisburg, PA 17106-2635
phone: 717-231-9555
fax: 717-231-9521
criminalrules@pacourts.us
Reminder: Order # 260 of 2000, reorganizing and renumbering the Rules of Criminal Procedure went into effect April 1, 2001.
Current Proposed Rules for Public Comment
These recommendations have not been submitted to or adopted by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. They are being published by the committee to solicit input from the public. No rules in this section are in effect.
The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopt new Rules 626 and 627, amend Rules 631, and 647, and renumber Rule 630 to provide for instructions to prospective and selected jurors concerning the use of personal communications devices during their service. The proposal also amends Rule 112 to clarify that the prohibition against broadcasting from the courtroom includes the use of cellphones and other similar electronic communications devices.
The deadline for comments, suggestions or objections concerning this proposal is Friday, April 6, 2012.
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