N.D.R.Civ.P.
RULE 40. ASSIGNMENT OF CASES FOR TRIAL
(a) Continuous Session of District Court. The district court is in
continuous session in each
county. Criminal and civil cases will must be scheduled for trial
in accordance with a
calendaring procedure maintained and operated under the direction and supervision of the
presiding judge of the district.
(b) [Deleted]
(c) Trial Dates. All contested cases will
must be assigned trial dates by the trial judge under
the direction and supervision of the presiding judge of the district.
(d) Trial Date Continuances. No continuance on trial dates
will be given unless formally
approved by the trial judge scheduled to hear the case. A party seeking a
continuance must
make a request to continue a trial must be made within
ten 14 days after receipt of
receiving
notice of trial given by from the court. The trial judge
scheduled to hear the case must
approve any request for continuance. If unavoidable circumstances should arise
are shown,
the trial judge may consider waiving waive the
ten 14-day requirement.
(e) Untried cases. Actions or proceedings that
have On motion, or on its own, the court may
dismiss, without prejudice, an action or proceeding that has been pending and filed in which
there has been a want lack of prosecution for more than one
year may be dismissed without
prejudice by the court on its own motion upon notice or on motion of either
party.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Rule 40 was amended effective July 1, 1981; January 1, 1988; August 1, 2004; March 1, 2008; March 1, 2009; March 1, 2011.
Rule 40 has the same purpose as Fed.R.Civ.P. 40.
Rule 40 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
Rule 40 was amended, effective March 1, 2008, to eliminate the note of issue and certificate of readiness requirement. Decisions on placement of cases on the trial calendar are made at Rule 16 scheduling conferences or as otherwise scheduled by the court.
Subdivision (a) provides for continuous session of district court, rather than distinct "terms" of court. The presiding judge is to oversee the calendaring process.
Subdivision (d) was amended, effective March 1, 2011, to increase the time to request a continuance from 10 to 14 days after receiving notice of trial.
Subdivision (e) provides for dismissal of untried cases after one year of inactivity.
The rule was amended, effective January 1, 1988, to make the rule gender neutral.
Sources: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 29-30, 2010, page 13; January 29-30, 2009, page 33; April 24-25, 2008, pages 21-22; April 26-27, 2007, pages 14-15; September 18-19, 2003, pages 11-18; April 24-25, 2003, pages 26-30; November 7-8, 1991, page 5; October 25-26, 1990, page 16; January 23, 1986, pages 9-12; September 18-19, 1980, pages 13-14; May 29-30, 1980, pages 1-2, 6-11; March 27-28, 1980, pages 3-4; January 17-18, 1980, page 3; November 29-30, 1979, pages 9-10; Fed.R.Civ.P. 40.
Statutes
Affected:
Superseded: N.D.R.C. 1943
§§ 28-1207, 28-1208, 28-1212.
Cross Reference: N.D.R.Civ.P. 16 (Pretrial Conferences; Scheduling; Management); N.D.R.Crim.P. 50 (Calendars).