Rule Changes and Invitations to Comment on Proposed Rules and Amendments

The court invites comments on new rules or proposed changes to existing rules and also announces rule changes.

Invitations to Comment

The court invites comments on the following new rules or proposed changes to existing rules. Invitations to comment that have expired are removed from the list.

Notice Inviting Comments on Proposed New Rule 49 of the Mass. Rules of Criminal Procedure
Comments due by: September 8, 2023

Notice Inviting Comments on Appeals Court's Proposal to Amend Rule 6.0 and Replace Related Administrative Order
Comments due by: June 30, 2023

Notice Inviting Comment on Proposed Amendments to Superior Court Rule 9C(a)
Comments due by: June 2, 2023

Notice Inviting Comments on Revised Proposed Amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct (Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:07)
Comments due by: April 14, 2023

Notice Inviting Comments on Proposed Amendments to Rule 30 of the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure
Comments due by: March 17, 2023

Notice Inviting Comments on Proposed Amendments to Rule 6 of the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure
Comments due by: January 30, 2023

Notice Inviting Comments on Proposed Amendments to Rule 11 of the Mass. Rules of Civil Procedure
Comments due by: January 13, 2023

Rule Changes

The following are recent notices of rule changes and the date when each rule change goes into effect. Rule changes are removed from this list after the effective date has passed. Please refer to the Court's online listing of Rules of Court and Standing Orders to view updated rules and dates when rules were amended.

Joint Standing Order 1-23 of the Boston Municipal Court Department and District Court Department: Electronic Filing of Summary Process Cases
Effective: June 5, 2023

Land Court Standing Order 2-23: Implementation of Mandatory Electronic Filing for Attorneys in Certain Case Types in the Land Court Department
Effective: June 1, 2023

Land Court Standing Order 1-23: Land Court Department Electronic Filing Procedures, Standards, and Guidelines
Effective: June 1, 2023

Approved Rescission of Land Court Standing Order 2-18: Initial Limited Electronic Filing Project
Effective: June 1, 2023

Amendments to Rule 18 of the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure
Effective: May 1, 2023

Amendments to Rule 3 of the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure
Effective: March 2, 2023

Superior Court Standing Order 1-22: Videoconferencing of Court Events
Effective: September 1, 2022

Juvenile Court Standing Order 1-22: Juvenile Court Operations
Effective: September 1, 2022

Joint Standing Order 2-22 of the Boston Municipal Court Department and District Court Department: Court Operational Order
Effective: September 1, 2022

Amendment to Rule 1:08 of the Rules of the Supreme Judicial Court
Effective: October 1, 2022

Juvenile Court Rules for First Offense Determinations and Hearings Held Pursuant to Commonwealth v. Wallace W., 482 Mass. 789 (2019)
Effective: October 1, 2022

Amendment to SJC Rule 3:07, Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct
Effective: October 1, 2022

Amendments to Rules 30 and 30A of the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure
Effective: September 1, 2022

Amendments to Rules of the Board of Bar Overseers
Effective: June 1, 2022

Amendments to Chapters Three and Four of the Rules of the Supreme Judicial Court
Effective: June 1, 2022

Amendments to Rule 19 of the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure
Effective: May 1, 2022

Amendments to Rule 5 of the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure
Effective: May 1, 2022

Amendments to Rules 12,16,18,28,29,31,37 and 43 of the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure
Effective: April 1, 2022

Amendments to Rules 4 and 17 of the Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure
Effective: April 1, 2022

A listing of Rules of Court and Standing Orders are available on the court's website. Please note that not all Massachusetts Rules of Court are available online. Efforts have been taken to ensure accuracy in all rules on the court's website, but if there are discrepancies between the electronic versions of the rules found on the website and the official print versions that appear in a volume such as Massachusetts Reports, the print version should be considered authoritative.

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