Opinion
Nos. Chief Justice Order 09-017, Chief Judge Order 09-01.
January 29, 2009.
ORDER ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO THE OREGON RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE: AMENDED RULES REGARDING ELECTRONIC FILING
By this order, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals adopt temporary amendments to the Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure governing electronic filing in the appellate courts. The amended eFiling rules are set forth in full in the attachment to this order. These amended rules replace the rules set forth in Chief Justice Order 08-046, signed on August 20, 2008. These amended rules are effective February 2, 2009, and shall continue to be effective until further order of the Chief Justice and Chief Judge.
Dated this 29th day of January, 2009.
Dated this 28th day of January, 2009.
16. FILING BY ELECTRONIC MEANS Rule 16.03 APPLICABILITY
These rules apply to electronic filing in the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Oregon Supreme Court. At this time, only attorneys who are members of the Oregon State Bar and are authorized to practice law in Oregon are eligible to file documents electronically.
Rule 16.05 DEFINITIONS
(1) "Conventional filing" means the filing of a paper document with an Oregon appellate court in accordance with the Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure.
(2) "Document" means a brief, petition, notice, motion, response, application, affidavit or declaration, or any other writing that, by law, may be filed with an appellate court, including any exhibit or attachment referred to in that writing
(3) "Electronic filing" or "eFiling" means the process whereby a user of the eFiling system transmits a document directly from the user's computer to the electronic filing system to file that document with the appellate court.
(4) "Electronic filing system" or "eFiling system" means the system provided by the Oregon Judicial Department for the electronic filing of a document in the appellate courts via the internet. The system may be accessed at www.ojd.state.or.us /onlineservices/eFile.
(5) "Electronic payment system" means the system provided by the Oregon Judicial Department for paying filing fees and associated charges electronically in the appellate court.
(6) An "eFiler" means a person registered with the eFiling system who submits a document for electronic filing with the appellate court.
(7) "Electronic service" or "eService" means the process for a user of the eFiling system to accomplish service via the electronic mail function of the appellate court eFiling system.
(8) "Hyperlink" means a reference or a navigation element in an electronic document to another section of the same document or to another electronic document that may be located on the internet.
(9) "Initiating document" means any document that initiates a case, including but not limited to a notice of appeal; a petition for review; a petition for judicial review; a petition for a writ of mandamus, habeas corpus, or quo warranto; and a recommendation for discipline from the Oregon State Bar or the Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability.
(10) "PDF" means Portable Document Format, an electronic file format.
(11) "Username" means the identifying term assigned to an eFiler by the court, used to access the appellate court eFiling system.
Rule 16.10 eFILERS
(1) Authorized eFilers
(a) Any member of the Oregon State Bar who is authorized to practice law may register to become an eFiler.
(b) To become an eFiler, an attorney must complete a registration form to request a username and must complete a training program, either online or in person, regarding the appellate court eFiling system. Links to the registration form and to the online training program are available at http://www.ojd.state.or.us/onlineservices/eFile. An attorney who has been assigned a username, has created a password, and has completed training may eFile documents with the appellate courts.
(2) Conditions of Electronic Filing
(a) To access the eFiling system, each eFiler agrees to and shall
(i) review the technical requirements for electronic filing at www.ojd.state.or.us/courts/ onlineservices/eFile/electronicFilingFAQs.htm;
(ii) register for access to the eFiling system;
(iii) comply with the electronic filing terms and conditions when using the eFiling system;
(iv) furnish required information for case processing;
(v) advise the appellate courts and the Oregon State Bar of changes in the eFiler's e-mail address.
(b) An eFiler's username and password may be used only by the attorney to whom the username and password were issued or by an employee of that attorney's law firm or office or by another person authorized by that attorney to use the username and password.
(c) The appellate court may suspend the electronic filing privileges of an eFiler if the court becomes aware of misuse of the eFiling system or of the eFiler's username and password.
Rule 16.15 FORMAT OF DOCUMENTS TO BE FILED ELECTRONICALLY
(1) Any document filed via the eFiling system must be in a Portable Document Format (PDF) that is compatible with the eFiling system requirements.1 The PDF document shall allow text searching and shall allow copying and pasting text into another document.
(2) A submitted document, when viewed in electronic format and when printed, shall comply, to the extent practicable, with the formatting requirements of any applicable Oregon Rule of Appellate Procedure. Except as provided in ORAP 16.40, a document submitted for electronic filing need not contain a physical signature.
(3) An eFiler who submits a document that does not comply with an applicable Oregon Rule of Appellate Procedure will receive from the court an acknowledgement of the electronic filing and a notice of the deficiency or deficiencies to be corrected.2
(4) The court may require that an eFiler submit, in the manner and time specified by the court, an electronic version of a document in its original electronic format.
1 Please see www.ojd.state.or.us/onlineservices/eFile/electronicFilingFA Qs.htm for more information about the technical requirements of eFiling.
2 See ORAP 1.20.
Rule 16.20 FILING FEES AND eFILING CHARGES
(1) The appellate courts may impose a transaction charge for using the eFiling system, as prescribed by order of the Chief Justice.
(2) The appellate courts may collect a document recovery charge to offset the cost incurred by the courts in making the necessary number of printed copies. The document recovery charge shall be at the rate prescribed by Chief Justice Order, multiplied by the number of copies required for a particular document. The number of copies, if any, varies based on the type of document that is eFiled.1
(3) An eFiler shall pay any required filing fees or eFiling charges at the time of the electronic filing, by using the electronic payment system, unless otherwise directed by the court. Charges for electronic filing may be recovered in the manner provided by ORAP 13.05.
(4) If an eFiler seeks to waive or defer filing fees, the eFiler shall apply for a waiver or deferral of filing fees by eFiling an application to waive or defer filing fees at the time of filing a document electronically.
(5) If the court rejects an eFiled document, the court may, upon request, refund any fees paid.
1 A link to a chart outlining the number of printed copies required for each eFiled document is available at http://www.ojd.state.or.us/onlineservices/eFile.
Rule 16.25 ELECTRONIC FILING
(1) Electronic Filing: The submission of a document electronically by the eFiler and acceptance of the document by the court accomplishes electronic filing. When accepted for filing, the electronic document constitutes the court's record of the document.
(a) The court considers a document received when the eFiling system receives the document. The eFiling system shall transmit a receipt to the eFiler's e-mail address, and to any other e-mail address provided by the eFiler, to confirm that the eFiling system received the document.
(b) To complete the electronic filing process, the document must be accepted by the court. The court shall notify the eFiler via the eFiler's e-mail address, and any other e-mail address provided by the eFiler, when the court accepts the eFiler's document.
(c) If the court rejects a document submitted for filing via the eFiling system, the court shall notify the eFiler of the rejection via the eFiler's e-mail address, and any other e-mail address provided by the eFiler, and the document shall not become part of the court's file. To complete the filing requirements after the court has rejected a document, the eFiler may conventionally file the document or may resubmit the document via the eFiling system and repay the applicable filing fee via the electronic payment system.1
(2) Documents Conventionally Filed: The court may digitize, scan, or otherwise reproduce a document that is filed conventionally into an electronic record, document, or image. The court subsequently may destroy a conventionally filed document in accordance with the protocols established by the State Court Administrator under ORS 8.125(11).
1 See ORAP 1.20.
Rule 16.30 SPECIAL FILING AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
(1) An eFiler shall file conventionally any oversized demonstrative exhibit or oversized part of an appendix or excerpt of record within three business days of eFiling. An eFiler may note, in the "comments" section of the eFiling screen, that an oversized appendix or excerpt of record will be filed conventionally.
(2) For all other documents, unless otherwise provided by these rules or directed by the court, an eFiler shall not submit to the court paper copies of an eFiled document.
Rule 16.35 ELECTRONIC FILING DEADLINES
(1) Electronic filing is permitted at all times, except when the eFiling system is temporarily unavailable.1
(2) The filing deadline for any document filed electronically is 11:59:59 p.m. in the time zone in which the court is located on the date by which the document must be filed.
(3) The court considers a document submitted for filing when the document is received by the eFiling system. The eFiling system will issue a confirmation receipt to the eFiler that includes the date and time of receipt.
(4) If the court accepts the document for filing, the eFiling system will affix to the document the time of day, the day of the month, the month, and the year that the electronic filing system received the document. The date and time of filing entered in the register relates back to the date and time that the eFiling system received the document. If the document was electronically served by the eFiling system pursuant to ORAP 16.45, the date of service will also relate back to the date and time that the eFiling system received the document.
(5) If the eFiling system does not receive a document submitted electronically, because of an error in the transmission of the document or other technical problem experienced by the eFiler, the court may, upon satisfactory proof, permit the filing date of the document to relate back to the date that the eFiler first attempted to file the document electronically. Problems with the eFiler's equipment, the eFiler's hardware or software, or other problems within the eFiler's control generally will not excuse an untimely filing.
(6) In the event that the court rejects a document submitted for filing via the eFiling system, the court shall notify the eFiler, via the eFiler's e-mail address and any other e-mail address provided by the eFiler, of the basis for the rejection. The document shall not become part of the court's file.
As provided in ORAP 16.25(1)(c), to complete the filing requirements after the court has rejected a document, the eFiler may file the document conventionally or may resubmit the document using the eFiling system and repay the applicable filing fee using the electronic payment system. Except as provided in ORAP 16.35(5), the date and time of the filing of any conventionally filed document does not relate back to the date and time of the attempted electronic filing of the original document.
1 The regularly scheduled maintenance hours are listed at www.ojd.state.or.us/onlineservices/eFile/ electronicfilingFAQs.htm.
Rule 16.40 ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES
(1) The username and password required to submit a document to the eFiling system constitute the signature of the eFiler for purposes of these rules and for any other purpose for which a signature is required.
(2) In addition to information required by statute or rule to be included in the document, an electronically filed document must include a signature block that includes the printed name of the eFiler, preceded by an "s/" in the space where the signature would otherwise appear.
s/Attorney Name
Example: Attorney Name Oregon State Bar No _____ Attorney for __________. (3) When a document is filed electronically in which an opposing party joins, that all such parties join in the document must be shown either by:
(a) submitting a scanned document containing the signatures of all parties joining in the document;
(b) including a recitation in the document that all such parties consent or stipulate to the document; or
(c) identifying in the document the signatures that are required and submitting each such party's written confirmation no later than three business days after the court's acceptance of the electronic filing.
(4) A party electronically filing a document, such as an affidavit or a declaration, that must be signed by a person other than the eFiler, shall include a scanned image of the signature page showing the person's signature.
Rule 16.45 ELECTRONIC SERVICE
(1) Registration as an eFiler with the eFiling system constitutes consent, within the meaning of ORCP 9 G,1 to receive service via the electronic mail function of the eFiling system.
(2) (a) A party electronically filing a document, other than an initiating document, with an appellate court may accomplish service of that document on any other party's attorney, if that attorney is a registered eFiler, by using the electronic service function of the eFiling system. The eFiling system will generate an e-mail to the attorney to be eServed that includes a link to the document that was electronically filed. To access the electronically filed document, the attorney who has been eServed must log in to the eFiling system.
(b) Notwithstanding ORCP 9 G, electronic service is effective under this rule when the eFiler has received a confirmation e-mail stating that the eFiled document has been received by the eFiling system.
(3) A party electronically filing a document with the court must accomplish service as to parties who do not qualify for eService under paragraph (2)(a) of this rule via the conventional manner as provided by the applicable statutes and by the Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure, which may include service via electronic mail as provided by ORCP 9 G. Parties who do not qualify for eService include parties represented by attorneys who are not registered eFilers and parties who are self-represented. Parties who electronically file initiating documents must accomplish service conventionally.
(4) If an eFiled document is not electronically served by the eFiling system because of an error in the transmission of the document or other technical problem experienced by the eFiler, the court may, upon satisfactory proof, permit the service date of the document to relate back to the date that the eFiler first attempted to serve the document electronically.
1 See generally ORCP 9 G, cross-referenced in ORCP 9 B, made applicable to the appellate courts by ORS 19.500.
Rule 16.50 HYPERLINKS
(1) An eFiled document may contain one or more hyperlinks to other parts of the same document or hyperlinks to a location outside of the document that contains a source document for a citation. The functioning of a hyperlink reference is not guaranteed. The appellate courts neither endorse nor accept responsibility for any product, organization, or content at any hyperlinked site.
(2) A hyperlink to cited authority does not replace standard citation format. The complete citation must be included within the text of the document. Neither a hyperlink, nor any site to which it refers, shall be considered part of the record. A hyperlink is simply a convenient mechanism for accessing material cited in an eFiled document.
Rule 16.55 RETENTION OF DOCUMENTS BY eFILERS
(1) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, any party who electronically files a document that contains the original signature of a person other than the eFiler shall retain the document in its original paper form for two years from the date of issuance of the appellate judgment for the case in which the document was filed.
(2) Upon reasonable notice, the eFiler must provide a printed copy of a document filed electronically for inspection by another party or by the court.
Rule 16.60 PROTECTED INFORMATION
(1) The filing and use of information contained in a document filed electronically or information accessed through the eFiling system shall be consistent with state and federal law.
(2) A party filing a document containing protected personal information may comply with ORAP 8.50 by eFiling the redacted version of a document and conventionally filing the unredacted version within three business days after the court's acceptance of the document.
(3) A party filing a brief containing confidential material must comply with ORAP 5.95 by eFiling the redacted version of the brief and conventionally filing the unredacted version within three business days after the court's acceptance of the document.
(4) Briefs in the following categories of cases shall be filed conventionally and shall not be eFiled: adoption, juvenile dependency (including termination of parental rights), juvenile delinquency, and commitment of mentally ill and mentally deficient persons.