Rule 12. Immunity
Effective Date: 1/1/1999
Obsolete Date: 3/1/1999
Communications to the State Bar Board, its committees, secretary or staff relating to an applicant's admission to the bar or character and fitness to practice law, as well as testimony given in a formal proceeding, are absolutely privileged, and no civil proceeding predicated thereon may be instituted against any person providing information to the Board. Members of the Board, the Board's committees, secretary and staff are absolutely immune in any civil proceeding for all conduct in the course of their official duties.
Rule 16 was adopted effective March 1, 1999, amended effective August 1, 2001; July 1, 2026.
Members of the Board, the Board’s committees, secretary, and staff members may be entitled to the protections of N.D.C.C. ch. 32-12.2 in a civil suit for money damages if deemed a state employee as defined in N.D.C.C. § 32-12.2-01(8).
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of January 30, 2026, page 4; September 12, 2025, pages 5-6; Supreme Court No. 20250243.