Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate,
Bankruptcy, Civil, and Criminal Procedure, and Federal Rules of
Evidence: August 2008
Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
- Appellate Rule 1 (definition of "state")
- Appellate Rule 4 (corrects cross-reference to Civil Rule 58(a))
- Appellate Rule 29 (conforms to recently revised Supreme Court
Rule 37.6 on amicus briefs)
- Appellate Form 4 (conforms to new privacy rules)
Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
- Bankruptcy Rule 1007 (shortens time for debtor to file a list
of creditors after the entry of an order for relief in an involuntary
case. Also extends time for individual chapter 7 debtors to file
statement of completion of course in personal financial management)
- Bankruptcy Rule 1014 (includes chapter 15 cases in the rule
that authorizes the court to determine where cases should go forward
when multiple petitions involving the same debtor are pending)
- Bankruptcy Rule 1015 (includes chapter 15 cases in the rule
that authorizes the court to order consolidation or joint administration
of cases)
- Bankruptcy Rule 1018 (reflects enactment of chapter 15 in 2005)
- Bankruptcy Rule 1019 (with some exceptions, a new time period
to object to a claim of exemption arises when a case is converted
to chapter 7 from chapter 11, 12, or 13)
- Bankruptcy Rule 4001 (technical and conforming amendment on the computation of time)
- Bankruptcy Rule 4004 (is amended to: (a) include a new deadline
for filing of motions (rather than complaints) under Rule 7001(b)
objecting to a debtor's discharge; (b) direct the court not to
grant a discharge if a motion or complaint objecting to discharge
has been filed unless the objection has been decided in the debtor's
favor; and (c) direct the court in chapter 11 and 13 cases to
withhold the entry of the discharge if the debtor has not filed
with the court a statement of completion of a course concerning
personal financial management)
- Bankruptcy Rule 5009 (amended to add new subdivisions (b) and
(c) to the rule. Subdivision (b) requires the clerk to provide
notice to individual debtors in chapter 7 and 13 cases that their
cases may be closed if they fail to file a statement of completion
of financial management course. Subdivision (c) requires a foreign
representative in a chapter 15 case to file and give notice of
the filing of a final report)
- Bankruptcy Rule 5012 (new rule establishing
procedures in chapter 15 cases for obtaining approval of an agreement
regarding communications and coordinating of proceedings with
cases involving the debtor pending in other countries)
- Bankruptcy Rule 7001 (objections to discharge under §§ 727(a)(8),
(a)(9), and § 1328(f) are to be commenced by motion rather than
by complaint, corresponding to the proposed amendment to Rule
4004)
- Bankruptcy Rule 9001 (amended to add § 1502 to the list of definitions)
- Official Forms 9A, 9C, and 9I (technical changes that conform to the amendments to Bankruptcy Rules 4004 and 7001).1
- Official Forms 20A and 20B (technical and conforming amendments)
- Official Forms 22A, 22B, and 22C (Forms 22A, 22B, and 22C instructs that only one joint filer should report payments by another for household expenses. Forms 22A and 22C are amended to delete references to “household” and “household size” and are replaced by “number of persons” or “family size.” Finally, Form 22A directs debtors in joint cases to file separate forms only if one of the debtors is entitled to a Part I exemption)
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
- Civil Rule 8 (deletes "discharge in bankruptcy" as an affirmative defense)
- Civil Rule 26 (discovery of expert witness)
- Civil Rule 56 (summary judgment)
- Illustrative Civil Form 52 (technical and conforming amendment)
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure2
- Criminal Rule 12.3 (implements the Crime Victims' Rights Act)
- Criminal Rule 21 (implements the Crime Victims' Rights Act)
- Criminal Rule 32.1 (clarifies standard and burden of proof regarding
the release or detention of a person on probation or supervised
release)
Federal Rules of Evidence
- Evidence Rule 804 (extends corroborating circumstances
requirement to all declarations against penal interest offered
in criminal cases)(publication of proposed Restyled Evidence Rules
101-415 was deferred until the entire restyled Federal Rules of
Evidence have been approved for publication)
Amendments Reviewed by Congress (December 2010)
Amendments Approved by the Supreme Court (April 2010)
Final Report on Standing Orders (Rev. Dec. 2009) (pdf)
Amendments Approved by Judicial Conference (Sept. 2009)
Amendments Approved by Standing Committee (June 2009)
Proposed Amendments Published for Comment (August 2008)
Comments Submitted
1 The revisions to Official Forms 9A, 9C, and 9I were approved by the Rules Committees by email ballot in July 2010. The Executive Committee, on behalf of the Judicial Conference, approved the proposed revisions on .
2 The proposed amendment to Criminal Rule 5, published for comment in August 2008, was later withdrawn by the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules. The proposed amendment to Criminal Rule 15, also published for comment in August 2008, was later remanded by the Supreme Court to the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules for further study.