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 Land Court Standing Order: Remedies for Void Provisions Under Chapter 184, § 23B
Comments due: June 4, 2021
Notice Inviting Comments on Proposed Amendments to Rules 12, 16, 18, 28, 29, 31, 37 and 43 of the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure
Comments due: April 14, 2021
Notice Inviting Comments on Proposed Amendments to Rules 4 and 17 of Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure
Comments due: April 12, 2021
Notice Inviting Comment on Proposed Revisions to Comment 3 to Rule 1.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct (SJC Rule 3:07)
Comments are now due by: March 26, 2021 (previously February 1, 2021)
Notice Inviting Comment on Proposed Revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct (SJC Rule 3:07)
Comments are now due by: March 26, 2021 (previously February 1, 2021)
Notice Inviting Comments on Proposed Amendments to Rules 30 and 30A of the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure
Comments are now due by: February 17, 2021 (previously January 31, 2021)
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.
Juvenile Court Standing Order 3-21: Child requiring assistance proceedings
Effective: April 1, 2021
Amendments to Superior Court Standing Order 1-96: Processing and hearing of complaints for judicial review of administrative agency proceedings
Effective: December 10, 2020
Amendments to Supreme Judicial Court Rule 4:02
Effective: November 1, 2020
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.