NCJ Number
163548
Date Published
1996
Length
164 pages
Annotation
This preliminary draft of the proposed revision of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure is a style revision that is part of a comprehensive effort to clarify and simplify the language of all the Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure.
Abstract
The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure were enacted more than 25 years ago. The rules have been amended on 12 occasions since then by committees and reporters who have had no drafting guidelines to direct them. Without uniform drafting guidelines, inconsistencies in language and ambiguities in the rules have surfaced. Changes in committee membership and reporters who produce initial drafts have added to the unevenness in the rules. Too often the rules now contain different phrases and words intended to mean the same thing, leading to unnecessary ambiguity and the loss of simplicity. In 1991 the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure embarked on a style project to promote uniformity among the different sets of rules. The Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure reviewed the proposed revision at its January 1996 meeting and approved the advisory committee's recommendation to publish it. This draft is the product of this effort. The changes here proposed are intended to be nonsubstantive. In the course of reviewing the rules, however, existing ambiguities and inconsistencies were identified, and the committee decided that a few substantive revisions were necessary. These limited changes have been specifically identified in the Committee Notes. For each rule, the proposed style revision is set alongside the existing rule style and format so the nature of the proposed change is clear. The advisory committee has also been considering substantive amendments to Appellate Rules 27, 28, and 32. Proposed amendments to these three rules were published last year and were revised in accordance with comment received. These amendments are included in this report.