Rule 1. Title, Scope, and Application of Rules

(a) Title. These Rules may be known and cited as the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure.

(b) Scope; Application. These Rules are effective upon the date stated in subdivision (e) below for each county or region. They govern the procedure in the proceedings specified below brought in any county or region with a Unified Criminal Docket after unification takes effect, and also proceedings specified below then pending, except to the extent that in the opinion of the court their application in a particular action pending when they take effect would not be feasible or would work an injustice, in which event the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure apply:

(1) In all criminal proceedings, including appellate and post-conviction review proceedings, extradition proceedings, proceedings on a post-conviction motion for DNA analysis, and proceedings on a post-judgment motion by a person whose identity allegedly has been stolen and falsely used; and

(2) In proceedings before justices of the peace and bail commissioners; and

(3) In juvenile crime proceedings (including appellate proceedings) to the extent consistent with the Maine Juvenile Code. These Rules are not applicable to forfeiture of property for a violation of a statute of the State of Maine or the collection of fines and penalties. These Rules are not applicable to revocation proceedings under Title 17-A, sections 1205 through 1207, section 1233 or sections 1349-D through 1349-F except to the extent and under the conditions stated in those sections. These Rules are not applicable to proceedings for administrative inspection warrants, traffic infractions, actions for license revocation or suspension, and land use violations addressed in Rules 80E, 80F, 80G, and 80K of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, except as those civil rules may reference or incorporate provisions of these Rules. Rules 110 and 111 of these Rules supersede Rules 80H and 80I, respectively, of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.

(c) Procedure When None Specified. When no procedure is specifically prescribed, the court shall proceed in any lawful manner not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States or of the State of Maine, the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, these Rules, or any applicable statutes.

(d) Forms. Forms do not accompany these Rules. Forms are currently prepared by the Judicial Branch Forms Committee and, to a limited extent, by the Supreme Judicial Court. Forms are intended to be both sufficient under the Rules and reflective of the simplicity and brevity of statement that the Rules contemplate. Forms are available through the court clerks' offices and, to an increasing extent, on the Judicial Branch website.

(e) Effective Date of These Rules. The Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure shall govern proceedings indicated in subdivision (b) in all counties, effective July 1, 2015. On July 1, 2015, or on the prior effective dates indicated below for each county, the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure and/or prior Administrative Orders governing Unified Criminal Docket proceedings in any particular county shall cease to apply to govern proceedings in that county. Decisions made, actions taken, orders issued, and judgments entered pursuant to the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure or prior Unified Criminal Docket rules shall continue to be valid and have full force and effect.

(1) These Rules took effect on January 1, 2015, in Cumberland County, Franklin County, Hancock County, Penobscot County, Piscataquis County, Sagadahoc County, and Somerset County.

(2) These Rules took effect on April 1, 2015, in Kennebec County, Knox County, Lincoln County, Oxford County, and Waldo County.

(3) These Rules took effect on July 1, 2015, in Androscoggin County, Aroostook County, Washington County, and York County.

(f) Effective Date of Amendments . Amendments to these Rules will take effect upon the day specified in the order adopting them. They govern all proceedings in actions brought after they take effect and also all further proceedings in actions then pending, except to the extent that in the opinion of the court their application in a particular action pending when they take effect would not be feasible or would work injustice, in which event the former procedure applies.

Committee Notes

Committee Advisory Note [December 2014] The Rule parallels the content of Rule 1 of the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure but differs in the following respects. First, the heading to Rule 1 is changed from " TITLE AND SCOPE OF RULES" to "TITLE, SCOPE, AND APPLICATION OF RULES " in order to signal that these new unified Rules will be phased in rather than governing the procedure in all existing courts from the outset. Second, in subdivision (a) the title given to these new Rules is the "Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure." The word "Unified" in the title is expressly intended to convey that the distinctions between the functions of the District and Superior Courts in their handling of criminal matters and civil violations have been eliminated. Third, in subdivision (b) the heading is changed from " Scope " to " Scope; Application ." Fourth, in subdivision (b), as it relates to "scope," the content remains the same as Rule 1(b) of the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure except that the sentence "These rules govern the procedure in the Superior Court and the District Court" is intentionally omitted. Fifth, in subdivision (b), as it relates to "application," the content makes clear that the new Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure and the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure will coexist for a period. During this transitional period the new Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure will be applied in all counties or regions with a Unified Criminal Docket while the preexisting Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure will continue to apply elsewhere until unification takes effect. When unification has been fully accomplished statewide, the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure will be abrogated. In addition, the content makes clear that, when the new Rules first become effective in a given county or region, then-pending proceedings within their scope are subject to the new Rules except (like any future amendments pursuant to subdivision (f)) "to the extent that in the opinion of the court their application in a particular action pending when they take effect would not be feasible or would work an injustice." Further, subdivision (b) makes clear that the new Rules "are effective upon the date set forth in the order adopting them." Finally, in the final paragraph of subdivision (b) the references to "civil violations, search warrants for schedule Z drugs" and "80H, 80I" are omitted and a new sentence is added that makes clear that new Rules 110 and 111 supersede Rules 80H and 80I in any county or region with a Unified Criminal Docket. Sixth, in subdivision (d) the words "no longer" are replaced by the words "do not" because these Rules, unlike the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, have no former history of form use. Seventh, subdivisions (e) and (f) address the effective dates for these Rules and amendments to these Rules.

Advisory Note – July 2015 Rule 1(e) is amended to recognize that the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure are in effect in all counties as of July 1, 2015. As Rule 1(e) also notes, actions previously taken pursuant to the former Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure or Administrative Orders establishing unified criminal dockets in certain counties remain valid and have full force and effect.

[Advisory Notes to former Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure]

Advisory Committee Note–1975 [M.R. Crim. P. 1.] This rule is amended to implement Maine Laws, 1975, Chapter 139, and to indicate that the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure govern the proceedings on appeals from the District Court.

Advisory Committee Note–1976 [M.R. Crim. P. 1.] This amendment does not make any substantial change. It recognizes the abolition of the felony-misdemeanor distinction in the new Criminal Code, Title 17-A of the Maine Revised Statutes. The rule, as amended, establishes that the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure govern the procedure in all criminal proceedings in all courts, except Class D and Class E crimes in the District Court. Those crimes are within the trial jurisdiction of the District Court, 17-A M.R.S.A. § 9(3), and procedure in those cases in the District Court is governed by the Maine District Court Criminal Rules.

Advisory Committee Note–1981 [M.R. Crim. P. 1.] The amendment conforms the terminology of the Rule with that presently found in 15 M.R.S.A. ch. 305-A.

Advisory Committee Note–1983 [M.R. Crim. P. 1.] The Amendment adds a reference to extradition proceedings.

Advisory Committee Note—1989 [M.R. Crim. P. 1.] Rule 1 collects a number of provisions now scattered throughout the rules which should come at the beginning. Subdivision (a) contains the title of the rules; it was previously found in both [this Rule and] Rule 60. Subdivision (b) details the scope of the rules, combining provisions previously found in both Rules 1 and both Rules 54. Subdivision (c) authorizes judicial creativity when no procedure is specified, carrying forward provisions in both [this Rule and] Rules [sic] 58. Subdivision (e) provides for the effective date of amendments, carrying forward the language of Rule 59(b).

Advisory Committee Note—1993 [M.R. Crim. P. 1(b).] Some question has arisen as to the applicability of the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure to probation revocation proceedings. Since probation revocation proceedings are now comprehensively covered by statute, see Chapter 49 of Title 17-A, the better practice appears to be to make the rules selectively applicable only to the extent specified by statute. Moreover, the fragmentary provision contained in Rule 32(e) should be deleted once the corresponding change is made to the statute.

Advisory Committee Notes—2000 [M.R. Crim. P. 1(d).] This amendment is necessitated by the elimination of the Appendices of Forms to the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure in favor of relying upon form preparation by the Judicial Branch Forms Committee and the Supreme Judicial Court to the extent the Court may choose to provide forms, particularly those relating to criminal practice in the Supreme Judicial Court. The elimination of the two appendices of forms to the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure is desirable both because of the small number of forms contained therein when compared with the total number of forms currently in use in criminal practice in the courts and because of the practical difficulties confronting the Supreme Judicial Court in making the necessary changes to keep the included forms current. The amendment, in addition to making clear that forms will no longer accompany the rules, explains that forms are currently available to users through the courts and will shortly be available on the Internet as well.

Advisory Committee Note—2002 [M.R. Crim. P. 1(b).] The amendment modifies the paragraph in two respects. First, it clarifies that the rules govern procedure where the Superior Court is sitting as an appellate court. Second, it eliminates from the scope of the rules any reference to the procedure where the Supreme Judicial Court is setting as the Law Court since that procedure is now in the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Advisory Committee Note—2003 [M.R. Crim. P. 1(b).] This amendment reconfigures the current rule in an effort to enhance clarity and readability. Further, two substantive changes have been made as well. First, the amendment incorporates the statutory change made by P.L. 1997, ch. 181, § 1 relative to extradition proceedings making them a District Court matter rather than a Superior Court matter. Second, the amendment adds post-conviction District Court and Superior Court proceedings relating to DNA analysis created by P.L. 2001, ch. 469, § 1, and incorporated into these rules in Part XII.

Advisory Committee Note—2004 [M.R. Crim. P. 1(b).] This amendment adds revocation proceedings relating to both supervised release, pursuant to 17-A M.R.S. § 1233, and administrative release, pursuant to 17-A M.R.S. § 1349-F, as proceedings to which the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure are inapplicable except as specified in statute. See also Advisory Committee Note to M.R. Crim. P. 36(a), (b), (d) and (g).

Advisory Note - June 2006 M.R. Crim. P. 1(b). The amendment removes the division (i) and (ii) designations in the first sentence of the final paragraph as unnecessary. The amendment also adds a reference to sections 1349-D and 1349-E in the second sentence of the final paragraph for purposes of completeness.

Advisory Note—July 2010 The amendment modifies subdivision (b) of Rule 1 in three respects. First, editing changes are made to eliminate duplicative language and the unnecessary distinctions between the Superior Court and the District Court. Those distinctions have been creating confusion and uncertainty in the many trial courts currently operating with combined Superior Court and District Court clerk's offices and the increasing number of courts operating with unified criminal dockets. As to the latter, see Administrative Order JB-08-2, Establishment of the Cumberland County Unified Criminal Docket , effective January 1, 2009, and Administrative Order JB-10-1, Establishment of the Bangor Unified Criminal Docket , effective January 4, 2010. These changes do not change statutory court authority in any way. For example, juvenile and extradition proceedings will continue to be heard as District Court matters; juvenile appeals will continue to be heard as Superior Court matters. Second, the last paragraph of subdivision (b) is amended to eliminate another point of confusion by clarifying that the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure do not govern proceedings for administrative inspection warrants, traffic infractions, actions for license revocation or suspension, civil violations, search warrants for schedule Z drugs, and land use violations addressed in Rules 80E, 80F, 80G, 80H, 80I and 80K of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, except as those civil rules may reference or incorporate provisions of these rules. Third, a substantive change to subdivision (b) is necessitated by a recent statutory enactment. The amendment adds a reference to new Part XIII containing Rules 105-109, adopted by 2010 Me. Rules 5, effective March 31, 2010, addressing the new statutory post-judgment relief mechanism for persons whose identities have been stolen and falsely used by another person in a criminal proceeding. See 15 M.R.S. §§ 2181-2184, enacted by P.L. 2009, ch. 287, § 1, effective September 12, 2009. See also , Advisory Note—March 2010 to M.R. Crim. P. Part XIII and Rules 105-109. Finally, the amendment modifies subdivision (d) of Rule 1 to reduce unnecessary references to forms, deleting language added when forms ceased being published with the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure more than a decade ago. See Me. Rptr., 746-754 A.2d CV and LXVII-LXVIII.