The proposed amendments to Rules 3, 10, and 29 would collect in one rule, Rule 29, the separate provisions of the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure governing dismissal of appeals, voluntarily or involuntarily, by the appellate court or the lower court. Specifically, the second sentence of existing Rule 3 (a) (1) would be deleted and its substance, as construed by the appellate courts, moved to Rule 29 (d) (1). In addition, existing Rule 10 (c), which addresses the involuntary dismissal of appeals, would be deleted and its provisions incorporated into the amended Rule 29. No changes of substance are proposed to the existing provisions in Rule 29 regarding voluntary dismissal of appeals.
Proposed amendments to Rules 10 and 29 were published for public comment previously. To aid reviewers, all new material and proposed changes not included in the prior posting have been highlighted in yellow in the attached document prepared by the Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Comments should be directed to Timothy E. Maguire, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston, MA 02108 on or before August 6, 2025. Comments may also be emailed to timothy.maguire@jud.state.ma.us. Comments received will be made available to the public.
Proposed Amendments to Rules 3, 10, and 29 of Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure