Rule 45 - Duties of Appellate Clerks(a)General provisions. No appellate clerk shall practice as an attorney in any court while he or she continues in office. The office of the appellate clerk with an appellate clerk in attendance shall be open during business hours on all days except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, but the Chief Justice may provide that the office of the appellate clerk shall be open for specified hours on Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays.(b)The Docket; calendar; other records required. The appellate clerk shall maintain a docket, in such form and style as may be prescribed by the Administrative Director of the Courts and shall enter therein each case. The file number of each case shall be noted on the docket. All documents filed with the appellate clerk and all process, orders, and judgments shall be entered chronologically in the docket. Entries shall be brief but shall show the nature of each document filed or judgment or order entered. The entry of an order or judgment shall show the date the entry is made. The appellate clerk shall keep a suitable index of cases contained in the docket. The appellate clerk, upon receipt of the initial document in any appeal or original proceeding, shall assign to it a number. The appellate clerk shall docket the record in each case when filed in the appellate court and forthwith give notice thereof to the parties. Cross-appeals shall be docketed under the same number as the original appeal.
The appellate clerk shall prepare a calendar of cases awaiting argument. In placing cases on the calendar for argument, preference shall be given to appeals in criminal cases and to appeals and other proceedings entitled to preference by law.
The appellate clerk shall keep such other books and records as may be required from time to time by the Administrative Director of the Courts or as may be required by the supreme court.
(c)Notice of non-final orders. Immediately upon the entry of a non-final order, the appellate clerk shall serve notice of entry and shall make note of the service in the docket. Where a separate order is not filed, the movant shall notify all other parties of the court's ruling and shall file a copy of the notice.(d)Custody of records and documents. The appellate clerk shall have legal custody of the records and documents of the appellate courts. Conventionally filed documents shall be imaged upon receipt and the paper disposed in accordance with the applicable Records Control Schedule. The electronic document shall be deemed the official and original document thereafter. The appellate clerk shall preserve copies of the briefs and appendices and other documents filed by the parties on microfilm or as electronic documents.(e) Costs and fees to be collected by the appellate clerk. Except as exempted by statute or ordered by the appellate court, the appellate clerk shall collect costs and fees required by Chapter 607 of the Hawai'i Revised Statutes or other statutes and this Rule, as set out in Appendices B and C of these Rules. (1) Filing and docketing fees. The appellate clerk or the clerk of the court shall collect the filing and docketing fees for each case type upon the filing of the documents listed in Appendix B attached to these Rules.(2) Cost for copies of case documents, reports and recordings. The appellate clerk shall assess and collect fees for copies of case documents, reports, and recordings as listed in Appendix C attached to these Rules, including costs related to electronic documents and subscription to Enhanced eCourt Kokua.(3) JEFS user registration. An active Hawai'i attorney or a self-represented party may register as a JEFS User without payment of a fee. A registered JEFS User may view and download documents from the JEFS User's open cases without cost.(4) Document subscription. Any person may subscribe to access and copy single documents from public court records. The subscription shall entitle the subscriber to download one document at a time from any public court record included in JIMS.(5) Requests for other electronic access, downloading, bulk distribution, or compilations of electronic information and the like shall be directed to the Administrative Director of the Courts. See Rule 10.13 of the Hawai'i Court Records Rules.(6) The appellate clerk shall charge the actual cost of mailing copies of any item, provided that a party who is not a JEFS User or represented by a JEFS User shall not be charged for the mailing of the first paper copy of an order, opinion, judgment, or other item entered in the case by the appellate court.(7) Parties to a pending case who are not JEFS Users or who are not represented by a JEFS User, shall not be charged for the first copy of the appellate court's order, opinion, judgment, or any other item entered in the case by the appellate court, whether provided on paper or electronically.(8) A Hawai'i appellate court, or any judge or justice thereof, may waive costs and fees for good cause shown. In lieu of copying and mailing fees, the Chief Justice may authorize the appellate clerk to provide copies of orders, opinions, or other items to publishing companies in exchange for published materials or research services for the benefit of a Hawai'i appellate court or the judiciary.(9) No person or entity shall be permitted to mine JIMS or eCourt Kokua for data or documents. The Administrative Director is hereby authorized to take such actions as are necessary to protect JIMS and other case management systems from such activity. (f)Intermediate Court of Appeals Panels. (1) Merit Panel Assignment. The appellate clerk shall assign each appeal or statement of agreed facts to a randomly selected merit panel upon receipt of the last reply brief, upon receipt of a notice the last reply brief will not be filed, or upon expiration of the time when the last reply brief could have been filed. (2) Merit Panel Assignment for Consolidated Appeals. If a motion or request to consolidate related appeals is granted, the appellate clerk shall assign the consolidated appeal to the merit panel to which the oldest related appeal was assigned. If no previous merit panel assignment was made, the appellate clerk shall assign the consolidated appeal to a randomly selected merit panel upon receipt of the last reply brief, upon receipt of a notice the last reply brief will not be filed, or upon expiration of the time when the last reply brief could have been filed. (3) Notice of Panel Assignment. Upon assignment of a case to a merit panel, the appellate clerk shall notify the Chief Judge and the parties of the identity of the merit panel members. (4) Designation of Lead Judge by Clerk; When Required. If the Chief Judge does not notify the appellate clerk of the lead judge's identity within 30 days after entry of the notice of panel assignment, the appellate clerk shall randomly designate the lead judge from among the panel members. The clerk shall not disclose the identity of the lead judge except as required for internal reports approved by the Chief Justice. (5) Recusal, Disqualification, or Unavailability. Upon receipt of a judge's notice of recusal or disqualification in any case, or upon receipt of notice from the Chief Judge that a judge assigned to a merit panel has been, is, or may be unavailable due to illness, absence, or disability for a period of more than 30 days, the appellate clerk shall randomly select and assign to the merit panel a judge from the remaining intermediate court of appeals judges who are not known to be recused, disqualified, or otherwise unavailable. If an intermediate appellate judge is not available to substitute because of vacancies, recusals, disqualifications, or illness, absence or disability for a period of more than 30 days, the appellate clerk shall notify the Chief Justice who shall, in turn, designate a substitute from those eligible to serve as substitutes.(g)Ex officio filing. The appellate clerk shall be ex officio clerk of all the courts of records and, as such, may accept documents for filing and issue summons returnable in all such courts. A party that files documents ex officio with the appellate clerk shall forward the ex officio-filed documents to the appropriate court of record.Amended November 23, 1994, effective 12/15/1994; further amended December 6, 1999, effective 1/1/2000, further amended June 15, 2005, effective 7/1/2005; further amended June 20, 2006, effective 7/1/2006; further amended March 2, 2007, effective 7/1/2007; further amended July 18, 2007, effective 1/1/2008; further amended August 30, 2010, effective 9/27/2010; further amended April 12, 2016, effective 7/1/2016.