Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a) The
following are grounds for continuance:
(1)
Agreement of all parties or their attorneys, if approved by the
Court;
(2) Illness of counsel of
record, a material witness, or a party. If requested a certificate of a
physician shall be furnished, stating that such illness will probably be of
sufficient duration to prevent the ill person from participating in the
trial;
(3) Inability to subpoena or
to take testimony by deposition, commission, or letters rogatory, of any
material witness, shown by affidavit which shall state:
(i) The facts to which the witness would
testify if present or if deposed;
(ii) The grounds for believing that the
absent witness would so testify;
(iii) The efforts made to procure the
attendance or deposition of such absent witness; and
(iv) The reasons for believing that the
witness will attend the trial at a subsequent date, or that the deposition of
the witness can and will be obtained.
(4) Such special ground as may be allowed in
the discretion of the court;
(5)
The scheduling of counsel to appear at any proceeding under the Pennsylvania
Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement, whether:
(i) as counsel for a respondent-attorney
before a hearing committee, hearing officer, the Disciplinary Board or the
Supreme Court;
(ii) as a hearing
officer or member of a hearing committee; or
(iii) as a member of the Disciplinary
Board;
(6) The
scheduling of counsel to appear at any proceeding involving the discipline of a
justice, judge or magisterial district judge under Section 18 of Article V of
the Constitution of Pennsylvania, whether:
(i) as counsel for a justice, judge, or
magisterial district judge before the special tribunal provided for in
42 Pa.C.S. §
727, the
Court of Judicial Discipline, the Judicial Conduct Board or any hearing
committee or other arm of the Judicial Conduct Board; or
(ii) as a member of the Court of Judicial
Discipline, the Judicial Conduct Board or any hearing committee or other arm of
the Judicial Conduct Board.
(b) Except for cause shown in special cases,
no reason above enumerated for the continuance of a case shall be of effect
beyond one application made in behalf of one party or group of parties having
similar interests.
(c) No
application for a continuance shall be granted if based on a cause existing and
known at the time of publication or prior call of the trial list unless the
same is presented to the court at a time fixed by the court, which shall be at
least one week before the first day of the trial period. Applications for
continuances shall be made to the court, or filed in writing with the officer
in charge of the trial list, after giving notice of such application by mail,
or otherwise, to all parties or their attorneys. Each court may, by local rule,
designate the time of publication of the trial list for the purposes of this
rule.
(d) No continuance shall be
granted due to the absence from court of a witness duly subpoenaed, unless:
(1) Such witness will be absent because of
facts arising subsequent to the service of the subpoena and which would be a
proper ground for continuance under the provisions of Rule 216(a); or
(2) On the day when the presence of such
witness is required a prompt application is made for the attachment of such
absent witness; or
(3) The witness,
having attended at court has departed without leave, and an application for
attachment is made promptly after the discovery of the absence of such witness;
or the court is satisfied that the witness has left court for reasons which
would be a proper ground for continuance under Rule 216(a).
(e) Each Court may adopt local rules
providing for the temporary passing of cases or governing applications for
continuance because of the absence of a witness, not a party, who has not been
served with a subpoena.
(f) Rule
216(b)'(e) and Rule 217 shall not be applicable to a continuance granted for
any of the reasons set forth in Rule 216(a)(5) or (6).
Rule
227.1 as printed in 231 Pa. Code
reads "Official Note" rather than "Note."
