Rule 1. Scope of Rules and Mandatory Electronic Filing

(a) Scope of Rules. These rules govern the procedure in the traffic tribunal and in the municipal courts in all civil violations of the motor vehicle code and other violations assigned to those courts for adjudication pursuant to state law. When used in these rules, the term "court" shall mean the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal or a municipal court, as may be appropriate. These rules shall be known as the Traffic Tribunal Rules of Procedure and may be cited as Traffic Trib. R. P.

(b) Mandatory Electronic Filing. In accordance with Art. X of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Rules Governing Electronic Filing, electronic filing is mandatory for subsequent pleadings filed in a Traffic Tribunal case and in an appeal filed pursuant to Rule 21 by using the Rhode Island Judiciary's (Judiciary) Electronic Filing System. All parties are required to use the Judiciary's Electronic Filing System except for incarcerated individuals or where a waiver is granted in accordance with Art. X, Rule 3(c). Self-represented litigants or authorized law enforcement agencies may electronically file documents in accordance with Art. X, Rule 3(b) but are not required to do so. The Traffic Trib. R. P. must be read in conjunction with Art. X, the Rhode Island Judiciary Rules of Practice Governing Public Access to Electronic Case Information, and the Rhode Island Judiciary User Guide for Electronic Filing.

(1) Definitions. For further definitions, see Art. X, Rule 1(c) of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Rules Governing Electronic Filing.

(A) Case Management System (CMS). An electronic document repository database maintained and managed by the Judiciary and administered by the respective courts to track information used to manage the courts' caseload, such as case numbers, party names and identifiers, attorneys for parties, titles of all documents filed in a case, and all scheduled events in a case.

(B) Certificate of Service. Where the Traffic Trib. R. P. requires service of a document to be certified by an attorney of record or a self-represented litigant, the following certification shall be used: CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that, on the ___ day of __________, ___:  I filed and served this document through the electronic filing system on the following: __________. __________. The document electronically filed and served is available for viewing and/or downloading from the Rhode Island Judiciary's Electronic Filing System.  I served this document through the electronic filing system on the following: __________ ___ _______. The document electronically served is available for viewing and/or downloading from the Rhode Island Judiciary's Electronic Filing System.  I mailed or hand-delivered this document to the attorney for the opposing party and/or the opposing party if self-represented, whose name is __________ at the following address . /s/ NAME

(C) Electronic Filing System (EFS). An approved Judiciary-wide system for the filing and service of pleadings, motions, and other documents or information via electronic means such as the Internet, a court-authorized remote service provider, or through other remote means to and from the Judiciary's CMS.

(D) Filing. Where the Traffic Trib. R. P. require a document to be filed in a electronic form to or from a court/clerk through the Judiciary's electronic filing system or scanned and filed into the Judiciary's CMS at the clerk's office.

(E) Notice. Where the Traffic Trib. R. P. require notice to be given, notice shall mean electronic notice using the EFS unless stated otherwise.

(F) Registered User. An individual or entity with an assigned username and password authorized by the Judiciary to access and utilize the EFS.

(G) Public Access Portal. The point of entry for electronic access to case information from the Judiciary's database whether at the courthouse or remotely. The database is an electronic collection of court records displayed as a register of actions or docket sheet. The register of actions or docket sheet lists parties, case events, document filings, or other activities in a case set forth in chronological order.

(H) Service. Where the Traffic Trib. R. P. require a document or information to be served, sent, delivered, or forwarded, the following shall be applicable:

(i) Subpoenas, complaints, petitions, or other documents that must be handdelivered or served in person with a summons shall not be served electronically;

(ii) All other service or notice within a case shall be electronic using the EFS unless stated otherwise; and

(iii) All discovery on a case shall be electronically served using the EFS except when the discovery is of a type which does not lend itself to electronic service (either because it consists of non-conforming documents or is too voluminous), in which case conventional service shall be used.

(I) Signature. Where the Traffic Trib. R. P. require an electronic signature on any document, including the eCitation, the signature shall be reflected as /s/ NAME unless stated otherwise.

(2) Electronic Filing of Documents. When using the EFS:

(A) When filing an appeal, any required documents, attachments, or exhibits shall be submitted individually as separate files within the same initial submission or filing;

(B) All subsequent pleadings, motions, and other papers, shall be submitted individually with related documents submitted as separate files within the same submission or filing (for example, a motion and memorandum or other supporting attachments or exhibits filed in support of a motion); and

(C) Categories of items such as bills, receipts, invoices, photographs, etc. may be submitted in one attachment. For specific requirements, see the Traffic Tribunal's Electronic Filing System Guidelines.

(3) Clerk Review; Acceptance/Rejection Procedure: Following submission, the notify the filing party as to whether the filing is accepted or rejected. Upon acceptance, the submitted document(s) shall be entered into the docket of the case and the docket shall reflect the date and time of filing as set forth in Article X, Rule 5(b) of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Rules Governing Electronic Filing. In accordance with Article X, Rule 5(c), grounds for the rejection of a document submitted to the EFS in the Traffic Tribunal are limited in scope as follows:

(A) Pleadings filed without a conventional signature where required;

(B) Appeals filed without the required documents as set forth in the Traffic Tribunal's Electronic Filing System Guidelines;

(C) Pleadings not filed in accordance with Rule 1(b)(2);

(D) Depositions not filed in accordance with Rule 10(c);

(E) Documents, including any required documents, attachments, or exhibits, scanned in the wrong orientation, e.g., upside down or backwards;

(F) Documents scanned and filed that are unreadable or illegible;

(G) Documents filed in a fillable portable document format (PDF);

(H) The document filed does not match the selected filing code type;

(I) The document is filed into the wrong case;

(J) The document contains the wrong or incomplete case caption;

(K) The document is filed with no case identification;

(L) The document was improperly scanned or uploaded;

(M) The party name, party address, or document name exceeds the number of allotted characters in the EFS;

(N) The filer added a party or participant that is not configured in the CMS or does not match the information in the case;

(O) A payment processing error occurred; and/or

(P) A technical submission error occurred.