RULE AMENDMENTS REMOVE APPELLATE APPENDIX REQUIREMENT
MIKE HAGBURG Attorney at Law
On March 1 , the Supreme Court adopted amendments to the Rules of Appellate Procedure , eliminating language requiring parties to prepare an appendix .
Significant amendments were made to Appellate Rule 30 . The title of the rule was changed from “ Appendix to the Briefs ” to “ References to the Record ” and the rule ’ s language on the appendix was replaced with instructions on citing to the case record . Material in a case record is listed in a register of actions and specific items in the register are identified by index numbers . The amendments to Rule 30 require parties to refer in their briefs to the index number of items in the record instead of copying and assembling these items into an appendix .
Amended Rule 30 introduces a citation system intended to provide an understandable and compact reference to the item in the record being cited . When referring to an item in the record , a party must set out in parentheses the capital letter “ R ” followed by the index number of the item . This must be followed by a colon and the specific page within the item where the information referred to is located , for example ( R156:12 ). If applicable , paragraph or line numbers must be included after the page number .
If the item cited is a recording , parties must additionally identify the specific , time-coded , location in the recording where the cited material appears . All references to items in the record must include information that identifies the item , for example “ Statement of John Doe .”
The Judicial Branch Information Technology ( IT ) Department has developed a method to make case records easily available to the Supreme Court for reference and examination . When an appeal is filed , IT creates an index document that allows the Justices “ one click ” access to material in the case record . Meanwhile , attorneys can access items in the record through the Odyssey secure public access system , and judges may obtain access through the events tab of their Odyssey dashboard .
Another important change to practice was made through amendments to Appellate Rule 10 on the record on appeal . As of March 1 , transcripts must be filed with the district court , where they will be listed in the register of actions and assigned an index number . Using this number , parties will be able to apply Rule 30 ’ s requirements when citing to transcripts in their briefs .
Transcripts filed with the district court will be accessible through the Odyssey system and at courthouse terminals . Parties , therefore , should be careful to review transcripts to ensure any private and confidential information a transcript contains is properly redacted as required by Appellate Rule 14 on identity protection , Rule of Court 3.4 on privacy protection , and N . D . C . C . 12.1- 35-03 , which protects information about child victims or witnesses of crimes .
Appellate Rule 21 on writs was amended to provide special citation rules for writ petitions . The amendments clarify what supporting material should accompany a writ petition . They also require this material be attached as an exhibit to the petition and be cited in a manner similar to Rule 30 ’ s citation system .
Appellate Rule 28 on briefs was amended to remove language relating to the appendix and to require references in briefs to items in the record be made as detailed in Rule 30 .
Appellate Rules 25 , 27 , 29 , 31 , 32 , and 40 were amended to remove language relating to the appendix .
While the federal courts and most states still require an appendix for appeals , a significant number of jurisdictions allow appeals to be made using direct references to the record . For example , Minnesota Civil Appellate Procedure Rule 130.01 states “[ n ] o party may submit an appendix to its brief .” Instead , Minnesota Rule 128.03 provides guidance for making references directly to the record in briefs and related documents .
The amended Rules of Appellate Procedure are available on the Supreme Court website , www . ndcourts . gov .
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