Rule 25 - CERTIFICATION OF QUESTIONS OF LAW BY FEDERAL COURTS TO THE LAW COURT(a)When Certified. When it shall appear to the Supreme Court of the United States or to any of the Courts of Appeals or District Courts of the United States that there are involved in any proceeding before it one or more questions of law of this State that may be determinative of the cause and that there is no clear controlling precedent in the decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court, such federal court may, upon its own motion or upon request of any interested party, certify such questions of law of this State to the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court, for instructions concerning such questions of state law.(b)Contents of Certificate. The certificate provided for herein shall contain the name and docket number of the case, a statement of facts showing the nature of the case and the circumstances out of which the question of law arises, and the question or questions of law to be answered. Subject to other direction by the Supreme Judicial Court, the certificate shall also specify which party shall be treated as the appellant in the proceedings before the Supreme Judicial Court.(c)Preparation of Certificate. The certificate may be prepared by stipulation or as directed by the certifying federal court. When prepared and signed by the presiding judge of the federal court, 12 copies thereof shall be certified to the Supreme Judicial Court by the clerk of the federal court and under its official seal. The Supreme Judicial Court may, in its discretion, require the original or copies of all or any portion of the record before the federal court to be filed with said certificate where, in its opinion, such record may be necessary in answering any certified question of law.(d)Costs of Certificate. The costs of the certificate and filing fee shall be equally divided among the parties unless otherwise ordered by the Supreme Judicial Court.(e)Hearing Before the Law Court. For the purpose of measuring the time for filing briefs and for holding the oral argument, the filing and docketing of the certificate in the Supreme Judicial Court shall be treated the same as the filing and docketing of the record on an appeal from the trial court pursuant to Rule 7. The hearing shall be by the briefs and oral argument, both of which shall be controlled by the same rules as briefs and oral argument on appeals.(f)Intervention by the State. When the constitutionality of an act of the legislature of this State affecting the public interest is drawn in question upon such certification to which the State of Maine or an officer, agency, or employee thereof is not a party, the Supreme Judicial Court shall notify the Attorney General, and shall permit the State of Maine to intervene for presentation of briefs and oral argument on the question of constitutionality.Amended June 6, 2017, effective 9/1/2017.Advisory Notes - January 1, 2001
Rule 25 is identical to M.R. Civ. P. 76B. It establishes the structure for certification of questions of law from the Federal Courts to the Law Court. There is no comparable provision in the criminal rules, but there would appear to be no good reason why the authorization for certification of questions pursuant to 4 M.R.S. §57 would not cover criminal cases. One would anticipate that certification of questions in criminal cases would be rare, but such could occur.
Restyling Notes - June 2017
Rule 25 is subject to minor editing for clarification in the restyling process. It includes no substantive changes.